User talk:Riggslm/sandbox

AmySue's Review
Classic Maya Adaptations

Another way in which human adaptation can be addressed through the context of climate change is by looking at examples from past civilizations. The factors that determine a populations' (apostrophe goes between n and s because you're talking about a single population) vulnerability and resilience are identified by Dunning et al. as the system's rigidity, their options for change, and their resilient capacity.[1] In Classic Maya, geography played a role in the civilizations ability to adapt, although it was not enough of a factor to prevent the ultimate collapse of the empire. The coastal plains communities had many more options for change and resilient capacity than those Maya in the elevated interior areas, as they had more dependable access to drinking water in addition to river and maritime trade networks.[2] (I think i'd help clarify to expand this into two sentences) Traditionally, classical Mayan agriculture was highly adapted to the seasonal weather shifts of drought and precipitation.[3] As the population began to expand, the water reservoirs had to serve more and more people. The sanitation of these reservoirs was achieved by transforming the man-made reservoirs into a "wetland biosphere", which involved the planting of pond weeds to purify the water, and water lilies to prevent the build-up of too much algae.[4] The system began to falter at the end of the Classic period, the Mayan lowlands suffered from a series of droughts.

The Mayan kings, who held the royal power, were the ones who had political control over the water resources. They were very dependent on laborers to maintain and clean the reservoirs and wells.[5] (is there any info on how kings maintained control over laborers even though they were so dependent?) As water resources became increasingly scarce and drought plagued the Mayan people, the population gradually began to decrease. However, as the farmers and laborers adapted or migrated, the royal powers did nothing to change their actions and their political structure began to collapse.[6]

Current Mesoamerican strategies

In Mesoamerica today, climate change is one of the main threats to rural central american farmers, as the region is plagued with frequent droughts, cyclones and the El Niño- Southern-Oscillation.[7] Although there is a wide variety of adaption strategies, these can vary dramatically from country to country. Many of the adjustments that have been made are primarily agricultural or related to water supply. Some of these adaptive strategies include restoration of degraded lands, rearrangement of land uses across territories, livelihood diversification, changes to sowing dates or water harvest, and even migration.[8] The lack of available resources in Mesoamerica continues to pose as a barrier to more substantial adaptations, so the changes made today are much more incremental.

Extra Notes:

basis for royal power rested in what kings provided their subjects materially—that is, water during annual drought via massive artificial reservoirs[5] village in Campeche, Mexico may serve as an insight to Classic Maya town organization (classic maya had addition of royal water managers)-- The social organization of the town revolved around the water supply and reservoir, through cleaning, guarding, and sanitzing in large part around maintaining the integrity of the reservoir, cleaning the reservoir and wells, guarding the water supply from animals and children, and cleaning the streets to ensure the sanitation of the water entering from the town. Citizens were required to participate if they drew more water than for basic subsistence needs. Lower crop productivity in the region is related to low population density, rainfall seasonality and low soil fertility In order for adaptations to occur in modern day (especially vulnerable populations) context: basic needs satisfaction, resources for innovation and resources for transforming innovation into actions. (Bouroncle) In a health context, adaptation is synonymous with prevention (i.e., it seeks to prevent or minimize effects), and may involve primary, secondary, and tertiary interventions.(Ford et al)

'''You have a lot of good info about adaptations! I suggest just expanding in some areas''' Greifaq (talk) 17:36, 27 February 2018 (UTC)