Climate and Constantinople

A new study recently published in Quaternary Science Reviews takes a comprehensive look at the fall of Constantinople, and if climate change contributed to the collapse.

The paper, written by Elena Xoplaki et. al., is the product of a PAGES-supported meeting held in Greece in 2014. It examines ancient texts, excavated materials, lake sediments and climate models in an effort to understand what happened 800 years ago.

It was a prosperous time between AD 1081 to 1180 in the Byzantium society, but climate models show this period had less rainfall, overall warmer temperatures and colder winters. Scientists call this the “Medieval Climate Anomaly,” which was followed by a “Little Ice Age.”

In this blog article published today, PAGES' parent organization Future Earth takes an in-depth look at the QSR paper and current global instability.