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Science In Action: Drought and the Mayans

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Mask of the Maya rain God ‘Chaac’ on a building at Labná in the Puuc region of the northern Yucatán Peninsula.

02/08/2018 GMT

Drought and the Mayans

BBC World Service - Science In Action, Drought and the Mayans

Measuring the extent of the drought that contributed to collapse of Classic Maya Society

Drought and the Mayans. Also measuring micro-earthquakes at the Kilauea volcano, air pollution in Africa and decoding the genomes of all Eukaryotes.

Drought was the reason for the demise of the Mayan civilization. Scientists have been analysing ancient lake sediments on the Yucatan Peninsular in Mexico to determine the extent of the dry spell that caused catastrophic crop losses, which contributed to the demise of the Lowland Classic Mayan civilization.

Kilauea Volcano
As the Kilauea volcano continues to erupt and spew molten lava over the Island of Hawaii, volcanologists from the UK are setting up monitors on the slope in the hope of understanding the shield volcano better. They are measuring the micro-earthquakes and are hoping to record the moment the volcano quiets.

Eukaryote Genome 
The Earth Biogenome Project aims to sequence the DNA of all the planet's eukaryotes, some 1.5 million known species including all known plants, animals and single-celled organisms. The ambitious project will take 10 years to complete and cost an estimated $4.7 billion.

Air pollution in Africa 
How the residents of Mukuru in Nairobi are trying to tackle the growing health problems caused by particulate air pollution.

Presenter: Roland Pease
Producer: Fiona Roberts

Image:   Mask of the Maya rain God 'Chaac' on a building at Labná in the Puuc region of the northern Yucatán Peninsula.  Credit: Mark Brenner.

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