Wars, Rebellions Driven By Cooling Climate

Marlowe Hood
AFP
July 16, 2010

PARIS — Two millennia of foreign invasions and internal wars in China were driven more by cooling climate than by feudalism, class struggle or bad government, a bold study released Wednesday argued.

Food shortages severe enough to spark civil turmoil or force hordes of starving nomads to swoop down from the Mongolian steppes were consistently linked to long periods of colder weather, the study found.

In contrast, the Central Kingdom’s periods of stability and prosperity occurred during sustained warm spells, the researchers said.

Theories that weather-related calamities such as drought, floods and locust plagues steered the unravelling or creation of Chinese dynasties are not new.

But until now, no one had systematically scanned the long sweep of China’s tumultuous history to see exactly how climate and Chinese society might be intertwined.

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