Climatic Fluctuations in Last 2,500 Years Linked to Social Upheavals

It would seem that there are striking chronological parallels between significant variations of climate and major historical epochs, such as the Migration Period and the heyday of the Middle Ages. This is the conclusion reached following a study undertaken by researchers from Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and the USA, in which they were able to reconstruct the summer climate in Europe over the last 2,500 years from the information provided by annual tree rings.
. The decline of the Western Roman Empire coincided with a period after 250 AD in which it became much colder and climatically changeable. This phase of more marked climatic variation persisted for 300 years, accompanying the age of Migration and the associated socio-economic destabilization. The cultural revival of the early Middle Ages occurred as both temperatures and rainfall began to increase with the dawn of the 7th century. It is also possible that climatic factors may have contributed towards the spread and virulence of the Black Death after 1347. In addition, the new findings suggest that a cold period during the Thirty Years' War in the first half of the 17th century could have exacerbated the contemporary widespread famines.

source

Interesting paper and seeming appropriate to the current times perhaps. Do we cause the weather or does the weather cause us. According to some this new period of climate change is supposed to be more extreme than those our any of our known civilizations have experienced. How will that affect us all? Just some thoughts to ponder, enjoy

It's interesting you mention that, i just posted a thread about Tropical Cyclone Yasi, which is going to hit Northern QLD, Australia tomorrow.

They were slammed by massive flooding last month and it has been an odd year for waether all over the globe..

It would be hard to pin down a direct link though, but it is an interesting link none the less.

TC Yasi Thread

Brisbane Floods

Well our chancellor here in the uk will like that news. Hes is blaming our poor economy on the weather at the mo.

reply to post by ThePeopleParty


ahh they will use any excuse

I have no doubts myself that our climate is changing. Personally I believe that there is no one correct answer as to why that is so. While I would very dearly love to be able to protect those that I love I also feel that our society as a whole is sick and needs a change

Have current climatic fluctuations caused a rise in the price of bread which helped to contribute to the social upheavals currently under way in the Middle East?

Weather comes in and creates famines, disasters, etc. The rulers do absolutely nothing about it because they are fat and lazy in their ivory towers, so the people burn the ivory towers to the ground. I'm going to say that extreme weather probably becomes the proverbial "straw that breaks the camel's back" in many, many cases.