Collapse is the third book by Jared Diamond that I have read, and although it was a rougher read than the previous ones (partly due to being filled with depressing statistics about environmental degradation), it was just as interesting and informative. It is another example of Diamond’s style of using the power of the scientific method to make some kind of sense out of history. The book seeks to explain the collapse of past societies, with a heavy emphasis on environmental factors, and what it means for the future of current societies. The end of historical societies brings to mind pictures of war and destruction, of turmoil caused by political and social forces that are difficult to understand. But the study of extinct past societies in this book yields two important observations. Firstly, environmental factors have a significant contribution towards the demise of a community, regardless of how powerful other factors are. A society may suffer from many problems, but history suggests that usually a negative change in the environment causes the problems to become overwhelming. Due to human dependence on surroundings, degradation of the environment weakens them sufficiently for other elements to defeat them. Secondly, different aspects of the environment are interconnected. Deforestation leads to soil erosion, which leads to poor pastures, which leads to fewer domestic animals. The relationships are complex and not necessarily one-way. Therefore, it is a mistake to focus myopically on only one problem.

Another important phenomenon that the book attempts to explain is the apparent recklessness and ignorance of societies facing major environmental problems. How could they be so stupid? The assumption here is that members of those societies were generally aware of the problems and the possible consequences. In reality, the knowledge may have been confined to some people, if any, and those that knew may have lacked the motivation or means to do anything about it. There may have been an Easter Islander who had wondered at some point if they were cutting down too many trees, or a small-scale farmer in medieval Greenland who thought that their reliance on domestic animals was excessive. But their insights had probably gone unnoticed or even been suppressed by an elite class that is insulated from the problems of commoners and interested in maintaining their power and prestige.

Perhaps the biggest obstacle for those willing to act on environmental issues is their insidious nature. The problems build slowly over time, and by the time its effects become glaringly obvious, it’s too late to do anything about it. We currently have far better tools for understanding our environment than Easter Islanders or Norse Greenlanders, but convincing people of a danger that they cannot immediately see is no small feat.

However, the book also gives the reader reasons to hope. More people are environmentally conscious than ever, and big companies, which are often painted as villains by activists, are becoming increasingly aware of the need for sustainable practices. These corporations, which are accustomed to long-term thinking, have realized that it is in their own interest to pursue pro-environment goals, so anyone dismissing their actions as cheap PR stunts should take a second look.