Last spring, in a piece at TechCentralStation, I disputed the notion that the world was "using up its resources," and I cited the prevailing belief about the fate of the Easter Islanders:

There was a recent story in The Guardian about a new United Nations study, with the misleading headline, Two-Thirds of World's Resources "Used Up". It's not the first time we've seen such hysteria, and it certainly won't be the last. But relax -- the sky isn't falling. The headline is nonsensical, because it falsely implies that "resources" are a static quantity, and non-renewable. As an example, they often cite Easter Island, whose civilization supposedly failed due to running out of them.

At least one commenter at the time questioned the use of the word "supposedly," asking (if I recall correctly) if anyone disputed that.

Well, apparently some people do now.

[Via Iain Murray]

Rand,

I don't believe that hypothesis, for a very simple reason: They say Easter Island suffered from a rat infestation long before it was settled by humans.

Question: How did the rats get there?

Easter Island is as isolated as any island on Earth. Mammals never reach such islands unless they can fly, they can swim, or humans bring them along. Rats can't fly or swim, and the 'rat plague' allegedly happened before humans settled Easter Island. So how did the rats get there?

Rats generally get to islands (when not stowing away on ships) by floating on debris.

Also, rats can swim. Not hundreds of miles, but they certainly can manage a few hundred yards.

Rand,

I might buy that . . . if not for the fact that I can't think of even one other Pacific island where any placental mammals arrived by rafting. Reptiles, yes; mammals, never. Are there any known examples of rats traveling by raft to reach isolated islands?

Also consider the improbability of it: Easter island was around for millions of years, and the very first time that it got hit by raft-rats was only a few hundred years before humans landed there? Seems awfully unlikely, don't you think?

Well, maybe it depends on whether it's European rats, or African rats...