New research suggests that a relatively-modest sustained drop in annual rainfall may have doomed the Mayan civilisation to collapse. And with the possibility of climate change-induced drought of roughly the same proportions expected later this century, experts are worried about the related effects on food production, health and civil unrest.

BBC News – Mild drought caused Maya collapse in Mexico, Guatemala

 The great monuments of the Classic Maya were swallowed by the jungle Continue reading the main story Related Stories Camera uncovers Mayan tomb secret Protecting Mexico’s buried treasures Mexico’s struggle to stem looting of historic sites Relatively mild drought conditions may have been enough to cause the collapse of the Classic Maya civilisation, which flourished until about AD950 in what is now southern Mexico and Guatemala.

Related articles

• Maya Civilization Collapsed Amidst Mild Drought, New Study Suggests – Huffington Post (huffingtonpost.com)
• Classic Maya civilization collapse related to modest rainfall reductions (terradaily.com)

I found these on the Climate Progress site. Aussie readers should scroll to the bottom for an oldie but goodie about John Howard and George W.

John Howard was Australia's prime minister a few years ago and refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol. His successor (Kevin Rudd) started his first term in office by signing the treaty, but was recently seen to be essentially useless in Scandinavia.