COllapse by Jared Diamond

Although Greenland and Australia are thousands of miles apart and very different in geography, they also have many similarities. In his book “Collapse”, Jared Diamond shows that both countries have the five factors that can contribute to a society’s collapse. Greenland’s Norse society already collapsed a long time ago, while Australia is still a First World country going strong. If some things there don’t change, the country’s living standard will go down and there could be major problems.

The first factor in Diamond’s five-point framework is environmental damage. In Greenland, the Norse destroyed the natural vegetation, caused soil erosion and cut turn (Diamond, 248). They burned or cut down trees to clear land for farming and pastures. The plants would often not grow back because of overgrazing and trampling, and the top soil would just slide into rivers or was blown away by the wind. The Norse cut turf ?????

The resulting deforestation led to a shortage of lumber for building and fire wood. The Norse also could not extract iron anymore, because they needed charcoal for hot fires. Life got more difficult because they did not have iron, because they had to use more inefficient tools for cutting hay and butchering, and it was also harder to fight off or to attack the Inuit without swords and other iron weapons. The environment in Greenland is very fragile with a short and cool growing season, which means plants grow back too slowly. Australia also has a very fragile environment, probably the most fragile of any country in the First World (Diamond, 370). The soil is very old and not very fertile, so plants and trees do not grow without being fertilized. There are no nutrients left to run off into the rivers and ...

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...an do what I want” is slowly changing. There are more environmental groups and volunteers and more information about how to save the environment.

In conclusion, a comparison of the two societies shows many similarities, but also important differences. In both countries, settlers were met with conditions that were not the norm. In Greenland, they came during a mild time and in Australia, they came during a string of wet years. Things then changed and both societies were caught by surprise. Added to that were hostile natives and the loss of an important trading partner. With all that, the Norse still did not adapt and their society collapsed in the end. Australia is also faced with the five factors, which can lead to a society’s collapse. The country has been making changes though, and will therefore probably not have the same fate as Greenland.