WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.040 Okay. I have two options this week. I'm just 00:00:04.040 --> 00:00:06.480 trying to decide on which one, and I'm also trying 00:00:06.480 --> 00:00:08.880 to... Well, I'm going to give you the sources. 00:00:09.019 --> 00:00:11.619 I believe you've done that before, and let's 00:00:11.619 --> 00:00:13.560 decide based on that, because I have no other 00:00:13.560 --> 00:00:16.420 way how to broadly... It seems the fairest. ...get 00:00:16.420 --> 00:00:21.480 you to pick. So we got burstcoms .com. I think 00:00:21.480 --> 00:00:23.679 that's what that says. And the other one is fizz 00:00:23.679 --> 00:00:27.149 .org. Hmm. Let's do phys .org. We always like 00:00:27.149 --> 00:00:29.910 a good physics one. Yeah. So this is from phys 00:00:29.910 --> 00:00:34.149 .org. And sorry, I assume P -H -Y -S, right? 00:00:34.429 --> 00:00:38.229 No, this one's F -I -Z -Z. Oh, okay. Just kidding. 00:00:38.409 --> 00:00:41.130 It's the one you said. Okay. You're like, wow, 00:00:41.189 --> 00:00:46.679 I chose so wrong. This one is by Nature Publishing 00:00:46.679 --> 00:00:49.899 Group, edited by Lisa Locke, reviewed by Robert 00:00:49.899 --> 00:00:53.520 Egan. Major droughts linked to ancient Indus 00:00:53.520 --> 00:00:57.219 Valley civilizations collapse. I don't know when 00:00:57.219 --> 00:01:01.219 it's from. Successive major droughts, each lasting 00:01:01.219 --> 00:01:04.280 longer than 85 years, were likely a key factor 00:01:04.280 --> 00:01:06.939 in the eventual fall of the Indus Valley civilization, 00:01:07.680 --> 00:01:09.939 according to a paper published in Communications 00:01:09.939 --> 00:01:12.819 Earth and Environment. The findings may help 00:01:12.819 --> 00:01:15.319 explain why this major ancient civilization, 00:01:15.939 --> 00:01:19.140 a contemporary of ancient Egypt located around 00:01:19.140 --> 00:01:22.799 the modern India -Pakistan border, slowly declined, 00:01:22.939 --> 00:01:25.400 and highlights how environmental factors could 00:01:25.400 --> 00:01:28.400 shape ancient societies. They The Indus Valley 00:01:28.400 --> 00:01:31.959 civilization was one of the earliest urban cultures, 00:01:32.060 --> 00:01:35.680 existing between 5 ,000 and 35 ,000 years ago 00:01:35.680 --> 00:01:38.340 around the Indus River and its tributaries in 00:01:38.340 --> 00:01:41.180 modern -day Pakistan and northwest India. At 00:01:41.180 --> 00:01:44.799 its peak between 4 ,500 and 3 ,900 years ago, 00:01:44.959 --> 00:01:47.799 its culture was characterized by advanced cities 00:01:47.799 --> 00:01:51.060 and sophisticated water management systems. However, 00:01:51.359 --> 00:01:54.260 the reason for the civilization's prolonged decline 00:01:54.260 --> 00:01:56.920 after this peak are not yet fully understood. 00:01:57.400 --> 00:02:00.459 Female Mishra and colleagues simulated climate 00:02:00.459 --> 00:02:03.879 conditions across the IBC region between 5 ,000 00:02:03.879 --> 00:02:06.719 and 3 ,000 years ago. They combined these results 00:02:06.719 --> 00:02:09.539 with data from several indirect measures of past 00:02:09.539 --> 00:02:12.319 climate conditions, including the geochemistry 00:02:12.319 --> 00:02:16.900 of stalocytes and stalagmites in two Indian caves 00:02:16.900 --> 00:02:19.900 and the water level records of five lakes in 00:02:19.900 --> 00:02:23.039 northwest India. From this, the authors identified 00:02:23.039 --> 00:02:26.060 a temperature increase over the period of approximately 00:02:26.060 --> 00:02:29.979 0 .5 degrees Celsius and a decrease in average 00:02:29.979 --> 00:02:32.360 annual rainfall across the region of between 00:02:32.360 --> 00:02:36.099 10 % to 20%. They were also able to identify 00:02:36.099 --> 00:02:40.360 four long -term droughts between 4 ,450 and 3 00:02:40.360 --> 00:02:43.860 ,400 years ago, each lasting more than 85 years 00:02:43.860 --> 00:02:48.319 and affecting between 65 % and 91 % of the IVC 00:02:48.319 --> 00:02:54.240 region, which means... Something. Indus Valley 00:02:54.240 --> 00:02:57.659 Civilization. Indus Valley. Yeah. Yeah. The authors 00:02:57.659 --> 00:03:00.159 suggest that these droughts influenced settlement 00:03:00.159 --> 00:03:03.819 location choice in the IVC between 5 ,000 and 00:03:03.819 --> 00:03:06.759 4 ,500 years ago. They reported that settlements 00:03:06.759 --> 00:03:09.400 were concentrated in areas with more rainfall. 00:03:09.639 --> 00:03:13.219 However, from 4 ,500 years ago onward, settlements 00:03:13.219 --> 00:03:16.360 shifted closer to the Indus River, probably as 00:03:16.360 --> 00:03:18.599 the drought started to affect water availability. 00:03:19.310 --> 00:03:23.169 The final 113 -year -long drought that they identify 00:03:23.169 --> 00:03:29.349 between 3531 and 3418 years ago coincides with 00:03:29.349 --> 00:03:32.650 agricultural evidence of major de -urbanization 00:03:32.650 --> 00:03:36.629 in the IVC. The authors conclude that the IVC 00:03:36.629 --> 00:03:38.969 likely did not collapse suddenly as a result 00:03:38.969 --> 00:03:41.870 of any one climate event, but instead declined 00:03:41.870 --> 00:03:45.270 slowly with the prolonged droughts of major contributory 00:03:45.270 --> 00:03:50.000 factors. End of article. Okay, so yeah, I think 00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:53.639 we've always known that water is part of a burgeoning 00:03:53.639 --> 00:03:57.139 civilization. So it's, I don't know, it's a prediction, 00:03:57.139 --> 00:03:58.840 I think, of what's going to be happening in the 00:03:58.840 --> 00:04:01.419 next little while, or at least can show us that 00:04:01.419 --> 00:04:03.099 we're going to be facing these same problems, 00:04:03.159 --> 00:04:06.800 that weather patterns can change. Yeah, yeah, 00:04:06.819 --> 00:04:08.860 the interesting is... Despite what you economically 00:04:08.860 --> 00:04:12.639 plan for. Yeah. Oh, absolutely. And I think the 00:04:12.639 --> 00:04:15.360 interesting thing about it is, you know, 3 ,400 00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:17.920 years ago, did they have microplastics in the 00:04:17.920 --> 00:04:21.579 ocean? Yeah. I actually have quite the backlog 00:04:21.579 --> 00:04:25.740 of microplastic articles. Yeah. We can get to 00:04:25.740 --> 00:04:28.600 those when we get to those. Yeah, exactly. So 00:04:28.600 --> 00:04:30.720 yeah, I just thought it was interesting about 00:04:30.720 --> 00:04:33.639 how it just slowly progressed. For them, ours 00:04:33.639 --> 00:04:36.220 seems to be, you know, expanding a little bit 00:04:36.220 --> 00:04:38.139 more rapidly, but look at what we're doing to 00:04:38.139 --> 00:04:41.839 the planet. Yeah, it's also kind of crazy for 00:04:41.839 --> 00:04:44.740 like how long ago it was. It was a really prolonged 00:04:44.740 --> 00:04:47.819 fall of their civilization. Yeah, I would say. 00:04:47.819 --> 00:04:49.339 It was a few hundred years, which is kind of 00:04:49.339 --> 00:04:52.379 surprising. Yeah, how would they mark that? I 00:04:52.379 --> 00:04:54.339 was like, here's the start of it. The weird one 00:04:54.339 --> 00:04:59.459 was, and it fell in 3418 BC. Which is like, huh, 00:04:59.600 --> 00:05:03.579 that's a very specific year. Yeah, no, but that 00:05:03.579 --> 00:05:05.399 seems as good. Yeah, I don't know. You guys got 00:05:05.399 --> 00:05:08.519 48 hours and 18 minutes or something like that. 00:05:08.680 --> 00:05:11.019 I don't know. They seem specific in their numbers, 00:05:11.100 --> 00:05:13.139 so maybe I can be specific like that. Probably 00:05:13.139 --> 00:05:15.079 shouldn't because we always put it on a schedule, 00:05:15.160 --> 00:05:17.139 but I did nonetheless. Anyhow, bye. It sounds 00:05:17.139 --> 00:05:17.980 made up. Bye.