The Easter Island society was obsessed with competitive monument-building and cut down all its trees which caused a catastrophe for the islanders. Part 2, “Past Societies” examines several ancient cultures that failed because they abused their environments. Part 1, “Modern Montana” examines a relatively pristine region in present-day America and takes its pulse for signs of environmental danger.

We’ve been destroying the environment for a long time, but we can learn from those who have gone before us and restore our ecosystem. The examples from the past can teach us how to fix our environment today. Societies reached their greatest heights just before a disaster, causing mass starvation and collapse. Deforestation causes soil erosion, flooding, loss of wood products, crop failures and other environmental hazards.ĭiamond uses examples to show that societies have often suffered ecological collapse because they ignored the warnings all around them. Societies that are unwilling to adapt will fail as well. A friendly neighbor who backs away from the civilization can also cause it to collapse. The first is human ecological impacts, which leads to changes in climate and a hostile neighbor. The book Collapse discusses five major reasons why civilizations fall. In this second one, he explains how environmental abuse ruined many past societies and threatens civilizations today. In that first book, he described how environments around the world helped or hindered human civilization. 1-Page Summary of Collapse Overall Summaryįollowing his best-selling book, Guns, Germs and Steel (1997), geologist Jared Diamond published a companion book in 2006 called Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed.

Guns germs and steel sparknotes