maya
Newsletter
Credit: Planet Volumes/Unsplash
Growing food on Mars provides insights for Earth’s climate challenges
Research on Martian agriculture reveals that ancient farming techniques could help combat food scarcity on an increasingly arid Earth.
In short:
- Researchers found that intercropping, an ancient Maya farming technique, is effective in nutrient-poor Martian soil.
- The study suggests that intercropping can improve crop yields and combat the impacts of climate change on Earth.
- There are challenges in adapting space agriculture techniques to regions most in need due to existing power inequalities.
Key quote:
"Earth is beautiful, and it’s unique, and it’s rare, and it’s fragile. And it needs our help."
— Rebeca Gonçalves, astrobiologist
Why this matters:
As climate change degrades arable land, finding sustainable agricultural practices is crucial for global food security. Techniques developed for extraterrestrial farming could help restore Earth's depleted soils and ensure a reliable food supply.
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Newsletter
Maya immigrants embrace ancient farming techniques in Nebraska
In Nebraska's fields, Maya farmers from Latin America are revitalizing the landscape with traditional milpa farming practices, designed to enrich biodiversity and mitigate climate change impacts.
In short:
- The milpa farming method intercrops various plants to maintain soil integrity and enhance ecosystem health.
- Luis Marcos leads Nebraska's Maya community in implementing these sustainable practices as a way of cultural and environmental preservation.
- This initiative counters monoculture's drawbacks and aligns with global efforts to leverage nature-based solutions for climate change.
Why this matters:
Rooted in a Mesoamerican method of intercropping corn, beans, and squash, milpa encourages biodiversity and has become increasingly relevant as a sustainable model in the face of climate change. As the global community seeks effective strategies to manage climate change, embracing indigenous knowledge offers a viable path forward.
Related: Alexa White argues that the global food system is failing small-scale farmers — and suggests some ways we can fix this.
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Maya Lin’s dismantled ‘Ghost Forest’ to be reborn as boats
Teenagers are making boats using the wood from her grove installation at Madison Square Park, and the artist is happy that the work is seeing a new life.
www.ctvnews.ca
How climate change affected the population of this Maya settlement
A study led by McGill University has found that the Maya settlement in Itzan, now modern-day Guatemala, varied in size over time in response to climate change.
www.nytimes.com
In Maya Lin’s ‘Ghost Forest,’ the trees are talking back
The installation in the heart of Madison Square Park is the artist’s memorial to another war — the one against nature.
www.nytimes.com
Maya Lin to conjure dying trees to make a point
Her public art installation at Madison Square Park, opening in June, will focus on the so-called ghost forests that have died off because of climate change.
Newsletter
theconversation.com
Misreading the story of climate change and the Maya
Many people think climate change caused Classic Maya civilization to collapse abruptly around 900 A.D.
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