It is no joke any longer. If it ever was.
Throughout history, great civilizations have risen to impressive heights, only to collapse under the weight of challenges they failed to address. From the once-thriving Bronze Age kingdoms of Ugarit and the Hittites to the powerful Aztec and Mayan empires, these societies left behind warnings for humanity—warnings we seem destined to repeat as we face an escalating climate crisis.
Today, the stakes are global. Entire nations stand at risk as rising temperatures, extreme weather, and political inertia threaten the very fabric of modern life. The echoes of past failures are deafening, yet the question remains: will we act before it’s too late?
Ancient Lessons from Fallen Empires
In the late Bronze Age, King Amurapi of Ugarit penned a desperate plea to the Hittite emperor Suppiluliuma II, warning of marauding enemies burning his cities. Not long after, both kingdoms were no more, their ruins swallowed by the sands of history.
Centuries later, the Maya city of Copán in modern-day Honduras, a hub of art and governance, disintegrated in a matter of years. By the 10th century, the jungle claimed what remained of its palaces and temples, leaving only traces of a once-vibrant society.
Jumping to 1521, Cuauhtemōc, the last Aztec emperor, sought an unlikely alliance with the Tarascan empire to repel Spanish invaders. Despite desperate efforts, both empires fell to Hernán Cortés, their leaders meeting brutal ends.
These societies thrived until they didn’t. They were brought down by military conflict, political failures, and environmental changes—dangers compounded by their inability to adapt in time. Today, the parallels are striking, but the crisis we face is global, with consequences far graver than those of any single empire.
The Modern Climate Emergency
“Climate change is one of the most devastating problems humanity has ever faced—and the clock is running out,” warns the Union of Concerned Scientists. Their stark message is echoed by the World Meteorological Organization, whose September 2024 report outlined the grim reality: soaring greenhouse gas emissions, record-breaking temperatures, and increasingly destructive weather patterns. The report stressed, “The decisions we make today will define the future—whether it’s one of collapse or a sustainable breakthrough.”
This crisis comes with a heavy price. A World Economic Forum model predicts that, if left unchecked, the climate crisis could claim 14.5 million lives and cause economic losses exceeding $12.5 trillion by 2050. Yet, the political response has been woefully inadequate.
Jay Silverstein, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Chemistry and Forensics at Nottingham Trent University, reflects on how humanity has ignored decades of scientific warnings. “As early as the 1970s, researchers like Jia-Yin Wang were developing tools to monitor environmental changes. Yet, the political will to act was absent,” Silverstein recalls. By the 1990s, ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica provided clear evidence of rapid climate shifts, and groundbreaking studies like Richard Alley’s The Two-Mile Time Machine painted an alarming picture of the future.
“Despite the science being unequivocal,” Silverstein continues, “short-term economic interests often overrode the need for urgent action. Political leaders dismissed the data, catering instead to industries that viewed environmental regulations as a threat to profits.”
