Cascading impacts of environmental degradation

In my last post I concluded that Norse Greenland society didn't collapse because of ecocide. However, environmental damage in the form of deforestation, turf cutting and soil erosion did cause the Norse many difficulties and magnified the society's vulnerabilities. I created the diagram below to illustrate the cascading impacts caused from disturbing Greenland's fragile environmental equilibrium (Amorosi et al., 1997; Berglung, 1986; Diamond, 2005; Dugmore et al., 2007; Edwards et al., 2011; Hamilton et al., 2000; Jacobsen 1987; Jakobsen, 1991)

Environmental degradation is shown to influence three of Diamond's (2005) factors in the demise of societies: climate change, hostile neighbours and friendly trading partners; as shown by the boxes highlighted in red. This helps to show the complexity of societal collapse and how it isn't as simple as one-factor-fits all, but that the factor had differing but connected roles in the downfall of Norse Greenland.

List of references:

Amorosi T., Buckland P., Dugmore A., Ingimundarson J.H. and McGovern T.H.(1997) ‘Raiding the landscape: Human Impact in the Scandinavian North Atlantic’ Human Ecology, 25, 3, 491-518.

Berglund J., (1986) 'The delince of Norse settlements in Greenland' Arctic Anthropology, 23, 1/2, 109-135.

Diamond, J. (2005) Collapse: How Societies choose to fail or survive, London: Penguin Group.

Dugmore A.J., Keller C., McGovern T.H. (2007) ‘Norse Greenland Settlement: Reflections on Climate Change, Trade, and the Contrasting Fates of Human Settlements in the North Atlantic Islands’ Arctic Anthropology, 44, 1, 12-36.

Edwards K.J., Schofield J.E., Kirby J.R., Cook G.T. (2011) 'Probelmatic but promising ponds? Palaeoenvironmental evidence from the Norse Eastern Settlement of Greenland' Journal of Quaternary Science, 26, 8, 854-865. 

Hamilton L., Lyster P., Otterstad O. (2000) 'Social change, ecology and climate in 20th-century Greenland' Climate Change, 47: 193-211.

Jacobsen N.K. (1987) 'Studies on soils and potential for soil erosion in the sheep farming area of South Greenland' Arctic and Alpine Research, 19, 4, 498-507.

Jakobsen B.H. (1991 'Soil resources and soil erosion in the Norse settlement area of osterbygden in southern Greenland' Acta Borealia, 8, 1, 56-68.