Christian Estrada Pd.

Environmental Change Deforestation- Deforestation occurred in many places across classical civilization but it main source was the Roman Empire. The Romans needed wood for fuel, boats, houses, and weapons. They would clear forests and then plant crops on them which caused a major problem with soil erosion because they were damaging the soil with these new crops that they didnt ever cycle around. Thus trees wouldnt ever grow back in these areas because they were destroying all of the useable soil.

Desertification- As with most environmental problems this too came from farmers and pastoral peoples. The farmers back in these times didnt know how to properly maintain soil by not over working it and to try to mix around the crops they plant each year. Instead they planted the same crops year after year which caused the soil to lose all of it nutrients. The soil would then just become sand that could easily be eroded away. Pastoral people did about the same thing. They would bring in their herds and let them graze until the whole entire area was completely empty from any vegetation. From there, the soil had nothing to keep it intact so it would blow away with floods and strong winds. The peoples would keep doing this in areas all around them until eventually there was nothing but desert.

Soil Erosion- This is caused by the two paragraphs earlier. The farmers and such would over work soil until it was basically useless and it would become very loose because there was no vegetation to hold it down, such as trees. The soil would then be blown and washed away and would travel in the winds and waters further erode more soil in the areas. This caused major problems for societies that relied on the land for their food, supplies, and shelter.

Silted Rivers- Silted rivers occurred due to soil erosion and damaged shores. The societies that lived next to rivers almost always completely relied on them for their survival. They would plant crops along the shores or clear out the shores for docks and such. When the shores where cleared they lost all of the plants that keep pebbles and sand intact on the shore. When the rocks and sand would enter the stream they would help kick up more rocks and sand. This would keep progressing until the water was very murky with sand and dirt and became unusable as a water source. The people could no longer drink from or bathe in it. All of these different environmental problems caused major issues for the people living around these areas. Whole civilization would have to move due to the fact that they couldnt continue to live in these resource depleted areas. Their water source would be ruined, they had no more trees to use, no more soil for crops, no more vegetation for herds. When civilizations did decide to stay they would have to live by raiding other cities around them. This could cause major political issues and would eventually cause the areas to break out into war which could even further damage these environments.