1、Two Islands:Easter Island,Earth Island A True Story,Can we treat Earth Island better than Easter island?,Easter Island,Called “Rapa Nui” by the inhabitants (the “navel of the world”)Far away from any continent (2,000 miles from the nearest continent)Volcanic originLandscape was originally lush subtr
2、opical forestOnce home to a thriving civilizationNow a barren and treeless place,Map of Easter Island,On Easter Day in 1722:,Dutch explorers are the first Europeans to reach this remote island. They found the remnants of a flourishing Polynesian civilization.,How Did the Polynesians get to the Islan
3、d?,Evidence supports the theory that they came in small canoes, traveling over 2,000 miles to Easter Island.Bringing chicken, dogs, rats and foods such as bananas and sweet potatoes.,Paradise Found!,The Polynesian settlers found an abundant subtropical forest.Their population grew based on the fores
4、t economy.Trees were used for shelter, tools, boats, fuel, food, rope, and clothing.,They created amazing sculptures,Please send your comments/suggestions to Massimo Casulini. ,ButWhats Missing Now on Easter Island?,Overpopulation andThe Tragedy of the Commons became a reality,“Each person who cut a
5、 tree reaped immediate personal benefits while helping to doom the civilization as a whole.”When Dutch explorers reached the island in 1722 the Easter Island civilization and population had collapsed. The 2,000 inhabitants were competing for scarce resources.,Many people think that we should think o
6、f our Planet Earth as an Island,Will the humans on Earth Island recreate the tragedy of Easter Island?,Will we learn how to live sustainably on this planet, our island home?,The Two main goals of Environmental Science:,To understand the extremely complex interactions of the Earths populations and resources.To learn how both can be sustained indefinitely.,
