Posted on 06/09/2013 7:45:49 AM PDT by blam
The Ghost Empire - Climate Change, Global Warming, Drought and Desertification
Commodities / Climate Change
June 08, 2013 - 07:29 PM GMT
By: Richard Mills
Drought is a normal recurring feature of the climate in most parts of the world. It doesnt get the attention of a tornado, hurricane or flood. Instead, its a slower and less obvious, a much quieter disaster creeping up on us unawares.
Climate change is currently warming many regions, overall warmer temperatures increase the frequency and intensity of heat waves and droughts.
We can prepare for some climate change consequences with public education, water conservation programs, limiting pumping from our freshwater aquifers to recharge rates and putting in place early warning systems for extreme heat events.
Unfortunately some things cannot be prepared for like the pervasiveness and persistence of a hundred year drought.
The collapse of the worlds earliest known empire was because of drought.
The Akkadians of Mesopotamia forged the world's first empire more than 4,300 years ago. The Akkads seized control of cities along the Euphrates River and swept up onto the plains to the north in a short period of time their empire stretched 800 miles, all the way from the Persian Gulf to the headwaters of the Euphrates, through what is now Iraq, Syria and parts of southern Turkey.
Tell Leilan was a small village founded by some of the worlds first farmers. Its located in present day Syria and has existed for over 8,000 years. The Akkads conquered Tell Leilan around 2300 B.C. and the area became the breadbasket for the Akkadian empire.
After only a hundred years the Akkadian empire started to collapse.
In 1978, Harvey Weiss, a Yale archaeologist, began excavating the city of Tell Leilan. Everywhere Weiss dug he encountered a layer of dirt that contained no signs of human habitation. This dirt layer corresponded to the years 2200 to 1900 B.C. - the time of Akkads fall.
(An asteroid was the probable cause, see this link: Disaster That Struck The Ancients))
(snip)
Global Warming, Climate Change, Green Revolution...
“JAC”- Just Another Cult
Yep, the lesson is clear - inability to adapt quickly to changing circumstances leads to death and destruction. Interesting that the author talks about empires in the Middle East and theocratic death cults like the Mayans as examples, since neither form of governance is easy to change even when confronted with obvious problems.
But that wasn’t his point. Too bad he missed the obvious.
"The epidemic of cocoliztli from 1545 to 1548 killed an estimated 5 million to 15 million people, or up to 80% of the native population of Mexico (Figure 1). In absolute and relative terms the 1545 epidemic was one of the worst demographic catastrophes in human history, approaching even the Black Death of bubonic plague, which killed approximately 25 million in western Europe from 1347 to 1351 or about 50% of the regional population.
I have always considered droughts to be the most catastrophic of natural disasters, because they can cause profound changes in civilizations and societies. Hurricanes and tornadoes, while they may be spectacular and cause a lot of death and distruction, usually don’t cause profound social changes or destroy entire civilizations.
The Akkadians of Mesopotamia forged the world's first empire more than 4,300 years ago. The Akkads seized control of cities along the Euphrates River and swept up onto the plains to the north in a short period of time their empire stretched 800 miles, all the way from the Persian Gulf to the headwaters of the Euphrates, through what is now Iraq, Syria and parts of southern Turkey.
Tell Leilan was a small village founded by some of the worlds first farmers. Its located in present day Syria and has existed for over 8,000 years. The Akkads conquered Tell Leilan around 2300 B.C. and the area became the breadbasket for the Akkadian empire.
After only a hundred years the Akkadian empire started to collapse.
Must have been all of those SUV chariots....:^)
When their empire collapsed the Akkadians (Acadians, Cajuns) moved to south Louisiana, where there is water everywhere.
Thanks blam.
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GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach | |
Thanks blam. |
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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1666819/posts?page=15#15
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/curseofagade/index
Earthly cold spells can be more harmful, in the long run, for food crops. In our era of increased transportation the real threat of hunger in likely to be political stupidity and greed.
yes, and it is about the same time that the old kingdom of Egypt fell apart too.
There is a BBC special on this:link
I was going to suggest the Iraq Marshes meteor strike, but say it was referred to in one of the links.
John Kerry Proves He Doesnât Understand Climate Science
Global Warming on Free Republic here, here and here
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