Over the years, there have been so many societies that have collapsed. Jared Diamond, a scientist who studies societies and their declines, believes that a collapse results from environmental damage, climate change, hostile neighbors, friendly trade partners, or a societies response to the their problems (11). Diamond wrote about many societies in his engrossing book Collapse, but out of them all, the Greenland Norse seems to be the one that supports his ideas and opinions the most. The Greenland Norse was a landscape where Vikings settled, but unfortunately their civilization came to an end after being severely damaged. As Jared Diamond would say "collapse isn't inevitable but depends on a society's choices" (21). This shows that the actions of the colonist that settled in Greenland were the main prospect of its end. Overall the collapse of Greenland Norse is instructive because it declined from deforestation and soil erosion, colder climates, military issues with their neighbors, cut-off trade with Europe, and their inability to adopt useful methods from their surrounding societies; these problems fall into all of Jared Diamonds factors in his five point framework impeccably proving his theory.

Firstly, the Norse caused ecological downfall by all the reckless logging and farming they did, which resulted in soil erosion and deforestation. Due to this, the settlers lost lumber, firewood, and iron (Diamond 250). Lumber and firewood were scarce because there was no trees left to use. Iron, on the other hand is made by extracting charcoal, and getting charcoal requires huge quantities of wood (251). Losing iron was the biggest issue, because this was the time period where everything was made of iron, and due to the lack of wood, the Norse could no longer make and have tools and weapons they desired. This became a major problem, when another group of settlers, known as the Inuit, took control of another part of Greenland. The Norse had no military advantage, making them at a huge disadvantage if there came a point of war over the land. All the souls started eroding as well because of the deforestation, which left the Norse with very little usable land to grow their crops. The Norse were bound to lose their civilization due to all their loss. All together, this proves Jared Diamonds that environmental damage and a society's inability to see the damage their doing can cause a collapse.

Second, the climate in Norse Greenland had many negative impacts. The climate got colder and colder over time, and this caused shorter growing seasons than there already was, which resulting in less food. Due to this many settlers starved to death or froze to death. Gradually the population of the Norse started decreasing, because of all the deaths due to scarce food, which farther pushed them towards their decline. This, again, proves Jared Diamonds idea that climate change can cause a collapse in a society.

Third, there was tension and complications growing between the Norse and their neighbors, the Inuit. The Inuit weren't having the difficulties that the Norse were having due to many of their tactics, like their hunting skills. Diamond claims that if the Norse had tried to learn from the Inuit or traded with them, they could have had a better chance of surviving and keeping their civilization alive (255). The Norse's bad attitude and their inability to see that the Inuit could benefit them, cost them their society. The Inuit are said to have threatened and attacked the Vikings, which may have also added to the reasons why the Norse Greenland ended up dead (255). The relationship between the Vikings and the Inuit prove Jared Diamonds theory that hostile neighbors can cause a decline. The Vikings' negative thinking about the Inuit and their inability to see the benefits from them, prove Jared Diamonds theory that if a society does not respond to their problem the right way it could cause a decline.

Lastly, when the promised ships from Norway stopped coming it was the last cut. The Norse Greenland had lost so much, and their only hope to get the basic necessities was from the imports from Europe, but when that trade was cut-off, the Vikings had reached the end of their society. The trade had to cut be due to the climates becoming colder on the routes of the ships, making it harder for them to be able to sail (272). This proves Jared Diamonds idea that trade partners could cause a decline.

People may disagree that the Norse Greenland is a good representation of Jared Diamonds theory, but his other theories all have flaws that make them less suitable. For example, the Anasazi's in Chaco Island only fall under two of Jared Diamonds five factors: environmental damage and climate change. Jared Diamond main thesis is that the choices and actions of the people living there are the main cause of a society's collapse. In this case, the main cause of the Anasazi collapse was drought. A drought is a natural, uncontrollable event, so any civilization living near or in Chaco Canyon were bound to have a decline. Although the Anasazi people did do negative actions like deforest good land and cut arroyos, they did figure out ways to get away with it. They managed to stay healthy until the deadly drought came along. This shows that certain collapses can be completely due to natural causes that are out of human control.

In conclusion, no matter what caused the collapse's of past civilizations, all modern societies can learn from them. According to Diamond, currently there is a global state of ecological decline and this can only be changed by understanding past societies and their collapses (23). These past collapsed matter because understanding them can help us resolve the crisis' that are happening currently and help people in the modern world learn from the mistakes of our past to make the present and future brighter and better.

Sent from my iPhone