Audio Transcript:
(Sound effect: dry wind) Weather Beaten.
I'm Bob Karson with the discovery files--new advances in science and engineering from the National Science Foundation.
(Sound effect: thunder) The next time the weather cancels your golf game, be thankful it doesn't cancel your civilization. A new study from the University of California, Davis, Penn State, and Switzerland says extreme weather conditions helped lead to the collapse of the extraordinary Mayan civilization--which completely fell apart in a space of about 80 years.
To see what was going on during those years, the team accessed the Maya hieroglyphic database project, which catalogs the monuments the Mayans had a penchant for building. Inscribed with births, deaths, rulers' rise to power, major battles--no mention, though, of climatic events or how the crops were doing.
(Sound effect: cave sounds) To get climate information, the researchers studied a stalagmite from a cave in Belize, close to Mayan cities. Using oxygen isotope dating, they uncovered a record of local rainfall over the past 2,000 years.
By combining the information, the team was able to link precipitation with the civilization: Rainy with the rise, drying with the demise. The drying trend triggered political competition, more warfare and instability, and breakdown. A severe 80-year drought sealed their fate. A highly advanced society brought down by one thing they couldn't control: (Sound effect: thunderclap) The weather.
"The discovery files" covers projects funded by the government's national science foundation. Federally sponsored research--brought to you, by you! Learn more at nsf.gov or on our podcast.
