(Changes in cloud formation and rainfall are occurring over deforested parts of Central America today, studies show. The Maya must have relied on rainwater saved in reservoirs to survive, so a disruption in rainfall could have had terrible consequences. During the dry season in the Petén, water is scarce, and the groundwater is too deep (500+ feet) to tap with wells.
Rising temperatures would have also disrupted rainfall patterns, says Oglesby. Those warmer temperatures would have dried out the land, making it even less suitable for raising crops. The changing groundcover would have boosted the temperature of the region by as much as 6 degrees, according to computer simulations by NASA climate scientist Bob Oglesby, a colleague of Sever at the MSFC. Without trees, erosion would have worsened, carrying away fertile topsoil.
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