History's Wake-up Call for the Greenhouse Century

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History's Wake-up Call for the Greenhouse Century

Posted Jan 6, 2011 by Sandra Postel

[Excerpt] In early December, as I motored away from Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona, I glimpsed a sign for the Hohokam Expressway. The road was named after the Hohokam culture that had thrived in south-central Arizona for more than 1,000 years--and then abruptly disappeared around 1450 A.D. As I proceeded to drive past countless palm trees, swimming pools, green lawns, and suburban housing tracts, I couldn't help but wonder whether the fate of modern Phoenicians would ultimately mirror that of the enterprising Hohokam.

Less well known than their Anasazi neighbors at Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde, the Hohokam farmed successfully in the region for many centuries by tapping the Salt and Gila River systems to supply vast irrigation networks anchored by more than 300 miles (480 kilometers) of main canals. They grew surpluses of corn, beans, and squash, which freed them up to pursue arts, crafts, and handiworks. From a Hohokam settlement called Snaketown, southeast of Phoenix, archeologists have unearthed beautiful beads, bracelets, pottery, and painted ceramics. At its zenith, Hohokam trade reached north to Chaco Canyon, in northwest New Mexico, and south into Mesoamerica. The Hohokam population peaked somewhere between 50,000 and 200,000, and their territory spanned an area the size of Guatemala.

What made this thriving, entrepreneurial culture suddenly disappear? No one knows for sure. But a leading contender, as I recount in my book Pillar of Sand, is devastating drought followed by disruptive floods--climatic shifts for which the Hohokam were unprepared and to which they could not adapt...

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Image credit: Illustration of Hohokam irrigation by Peter V. Bianchi.

Originally published January 4, 2010 at National Geographic. This post is part of a special National Geographic news series and initiative on global water issues.

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