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Study debunks popular climate myth about Easter Island 'ecocide'

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Study debunks popular climate myth about Easter Island 'ecocide'

A recently-published study challenges the popular myth that Easter Islanders’ ancient rock gardening practices caused their own downfall.

The journal article, which is titled “Island-wide characterization of agricultural production challenges the demographic collapse hypothesis for Rapa Nui,” was published in Science Advances on Friday. The study explains that Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, “is often used as an example of how overexploitation of limited resources resulted in a catastrophic population collapse.”

Hundreds of years ago, farmers on the island – located in the South Pacific – practiced “slash and burn” agriculture by tearing down palm trees and setting them on fire. Farmers would then practice rock gardening to help enrich their soil.

According to a popular myth, islanders were so focused on their rock farming – and erecting hundreds of gigantic stone statues – that their civilization collapsed. When Europeans discovered Easter Island in 1722, the island’s population was allegedly smaller than it once was.

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A recently-published study debunks a popular climate myth about Easter Islanders’ farming practices. (iStock)

“A vital component of this narrative is that the rapid rise and fall of pre-contact Rapanui population growth rates was driven by the construction and overexploitation of once extensive rock gardens,” the article’s abstract section explains. “However, the extent of island-wide rock gardening, while key for understanding food systems and demography, must be better understood.”

Contrary to popular belief that rock gardening was bad for soil, the study says that the practice “enhanced plant productivity by increasing available soil nutrients and maintaining soil moisture.”

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“Given the benefits rock gardening has for increasing soil productivity and, thus, plant growth, its practice was a vital part of pre-contact Rapanui subsistence,” the article states. “Nearly half of the Rapanui diet consisted of terrestrial foods.”

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This photo taken on April 5, 2024, shows Moai stone statues on Easter Island of Chile. Easter Island, known for its giant stone-carved heads facing out to sea, is located at the southernmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in the South Pacific, and is considered one of the world’s most remote inhabited regions.  (Zhu Yubo/Xinhua via Getty Images)

“In this regard, measuring the extent of rock gardens is critical for understanding the island’s pre-contact environmental carrying capacity.”

Researchers also used shortwave infrared (SWIR) satellite imagery and machine learning to determine that Easter Island’s population was likely smaller than previously claimed – challenging the myth that the island’s 1722 population was substantially smaller than it was hundreds of years earlier.

“Our estimates suggest that the maximum population supported by rock gardening is not ~17,000 as claimed through Ladefoged et al.’s rock gardening calculations but just 3901 using our measurements,” the study states.

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Despite research suggesting otherwise, the study’s authors acknowledge that the myth still remains popular outside of academia. 

Moais seen on the outer slopes of Rano Raraku volcanic crater. (John Milner/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

“Despite recent archaeological literature debunking ideas about Malthusian population overshoot, the premise that Rapanui society caused its own demise from unsustainable resource use and uncontrolled population increases has been widely popularized,” the article states. 

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“While many researchers working on the island have shifted their narratives away from the assumptions of a pre-European collapse, the story remains prominent in disciplines such as ecology, paleoecology, and mathematics.”

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Family demands answers in death of young Black man in Mississippi

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Family demands answers in death of young Black man in Mississippi
A mother on Friday pleaded for anyone to come forward with information about what happened to her son, a young Black man whose body was found on an island off the coast ​of Mississippi after he traveled there over the Fourth of July weekend with three white friends.
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Gunfire shatters Toronto Latin street festival, leaving at least 2 dead and multiple wounded

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Gunfire shatters Toronto Latin street festival, leaving at least 2 dead and multiple wounded

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The Toronto Police Service is investigating after gunfire broke out Saturday night at a large Latin street festival in Midtown Toronto, leaving at least two people dead and four others wounded.

Police said they received reports of a shooting at St. Clair Avenue West and Arlington Avenue at 8:12 p.m. local time and discovered an active shooter situation.

First responders found six people suffering from gunshot wounds, officials said. Two of the victims were pronounced dead at the scene.

Police respond to an active shooter at the Salsa on St. Clair event in Toronto, Saturday, July 11, 2026. (Keito Newman/The Canadian Press via AP)

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It is unclear what led to the shooting, and authorities said suspect(s) are still “outstanding.” No arrests have been made as of Saturday evening, police said. 

Toronto Police Deputy Chief Frank Barredo said during a news conference there seemed to be an “exchange of gunfire” between two individuals targeting each other.

“This is a very chaotic scene,” he said. “I think we had something in the neighborhood of 13,000 people participating in this festival.”

Police initially described the incident as an active shooter situation before later determining that was not the case.

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Police officers stand guard at the site of a deadly shooting at a salsa-themed street festival in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, July 11, 2026. (REUTERS/Cole Burston)

“There was some concern of an active shooter. That turned out not to be the case,” Barredo said.

Barredo said authorities were managing three separate crime scenes connected to the shooting. Two firearms have been recovered, he added.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he was “horrified” by the shooting.

“My prayers are with the families grieving their loved ones, those who are in critical condition, and everyone who has been affected by this horrific event,” he said in a statement.

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“My thanks to the police officers and other first responders whose courage and fast action prevented further tragedy,” he continued. “Police have my full support as they work to apprehend the perpetrators and bring them to justice.

Paramedics respond to an active shooter at the Salsa on St. Clair event in Toronto, Saturday.  (Keito Newman/The Canadian Press via AP)

FOUR DEAD AND 29 SHOT IN CHICAGO WEEKEND VIOLENCE AS LEADERS TOUT CRIME PROGRESS

Following the shooting, the Toronto Transit Commission suspended train stops at the nearby St. Clair West station on Line 1 Yonge-University due to what officials described as a “security incident.”

Regular transit service has since resumed.

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Authorities urged the public to avoid the area and follow all directives from police at the scene.

The TD Salsa on St. Clair Festival, Toronto’s biggest Latin culture celebration, was celebrating its 22nd annual event in Toronto’s Hillcrest Village.

Emergency Task Force vehicles and police officers are seen on the site of a shooting in Toronto on Saturday. (Jorge UZON / AFP via Getty Images)

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The Toronto Police Service told Fox News Digital no further information is available.

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This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, architect of modern Qatar

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Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, architect of modern Qatar

Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the former emir of Qatar who transformed the small Gulf state into one of the world’s wealthiest and most influential nations through its vast natural gas wealth and an ambitious programme of political, economic and social reforms, has died. He was 74.

A charismatic figure with a friendly demeanor, the father Emir assumed the reins of power in 1995. Regarded as the architect of modern Qatar, he embarked on forging development and reform plans and education programs.

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During his reign, Qatar’s GDP increased more than twenty-fourfold, while production from the North Field turned the country into the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas by 2006. After four years, the small nation’s LNG production capacity reached 77 million tons per annum, according to government’s figure.

His tenure also saw the establishment of the Qatar Foundation, the launch of Al Jazeera News Channel in 1996, the promulgation of Qatar’s first permanent constitution in 2004 and the introduction of municipal elections in which women were granted the right to vote and stand as candidates. Under his leadership, the Gulf nation also adopted the Qatar National Vision 2030 and secured the right to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

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Born in Doha in January 1952, Sheikh Hamad graduated from the British Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst before becoming commander of Qatar’s armed forces. He became heir apparent and defence minister in 1977, assumed power as emir on June 27, 1995, and handed over leadership to his son, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, on June 25, 2013.

“The future lies ahead of you, the children of this homeland, as you usher into a new era where young leadership hoists the banner,” Sheikh Hamad said as he announced his abdication and the carefully crafted transition to his son, the British-educated crown prince Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who was then 33.

The peaceful, voluntary transfer of power was rare in a region where such change usually results from death or overthrow.

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