Environmental Systems and Societies · Case studies

ECS.1 — Rapa Nui (Easter Island) collapse

Environmental Systems and Societies · SL / HL · syllabus-mapped notes

1. Overview

   A small, isolated Pacific island whose society is the classic cautionary tale of exceeding environmental limits.

2. Systems and sustainability angle

   Resource depletion, positive feedback and a tipping point: an ecological footprint that outran the island's biocapacity.

3. The debate and the lessons

   Ecocide versus external causes, and what the island teaches about sustainability.

4. HL lens angle

   Ethics of intergenerational responsibility and the economics of a closed common-pool resource.