Empirical comparisons between the past 5000 years of European and Eastern Mediterranean history and precipitation as recorded by ice accumulation in the GISP2 (Greenland) ice core
Abstract Adequate and regular levels of precipitation are fundamental to the sustained success of civilizations based on early agricultural production technologies, but palaeoclimate studies have concentrated on temperature. Potentially important insights into the fates of early civilization can be...
Published in: | Oxford Open Climate Change |
---|---|
Main Author: | |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Oxford University Press (OUP)
2023
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oxfclm/kgad007 https://academic.oup.com/oocc/advance-article-pdf/doi/10.1093/oxfclm/kgad007/51258783/kgad007.pdf https://academic.oup.com/oocc/article-pdf/3/1/kgad007/54362360/kgad007.pdf |
id |
croxfordunivpr:10.1093/oxfclm/kgad007 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
croxfordunivpr:10.1093/oxfclm/kgad007 2024-09-15T18:07:29+00:00 Empirical comparisons between the past 5000 years of European and Eastern Mediterranean history and precipitation as recorded by ice accumulation in the GISP2 (Greenland) ice core Holdaway, Richard N 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oxfclm/kgad007 https://academic.oup.com/oocc/advance-article-pdf/doi/10.1093/oxfclm/kgad007/51258783/kgad007.pdf https://academic.oup.com/oocc/article-pdf/3/1/kgad007/54362360/kgad007.pdf en eng Oxford University Press (OUP) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Oxford Open Climate Change volume 3, issue 1 ISSN 2634-4068 journal-article 2023 croxfordunivpr https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfclm/kgad007 2024-07-08T04:24:27Z Abstract Adequate and regular levels of precipitation are fundamental to the sustained success of civilizations based on early agricultural production technologies, but palaeoclimate studies have concentrated on temperature. Potentially important insights into the fates of early civilization can be gained, however, from long term records of precipitation. Patterns in precipitation over the past 5000 years recorded by the ice accumulation balance in the GISP 2 ice core on the Greenland plateau appear to be correlated with major events in European and Mediterranean history. Near Greenland, Viking raids coincided with a major step-wise precipitation increase after 600 CE. Viking settlement of Greenland coincided with a precipitation low. During the Egyptian Old Kingdom period of pyramid-building precipitation was higher than when the New Kingdom tombs were excavated. The Old Kingdom and Akkadian Empire both failed as precipitation descended into the same prolonged precipitation low. The end of the New Kingdom and of the other Bronze Age civilizations in the eastern Mediterranean and around the Aegean Sea coincided with the lowest ice accumulation rate in the past 5000 years. The Roman ‘Imperial Good Times’ coincided with a precipitation high. The brief 2nd century imperial reigns and those of late New Kingdom pharaohs accompanied precipitation lows, as did the Antonine and Justinianic plagues. A trans-Alpine ‘production see-saw’ hypothesis, in which the same precipitation levels generated opposite effects, fits the sequence of successes and failures of western civilizations. Article in Journal/Newspaper GISP Greenland Greenland ice core ice core Oxford University Press Oxford Open Climate Change 3 1 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Oxford University Press |
op_collection_id |
croxfordunivpr |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract Adequate and regular levels of precipitation are fundamental to the sustained success of civilizations based on early agricultural production technologies, but palaeoclimate studies have concentrated on temperature. Potentially important insights into the fates of early civilization can be gained, however, from long term records of precipitation. Patterns in precipitation over the past 5000 years recorded by the ice accumulation balance in the GISP 2 ice core on the Greenland plateau appear to be correlated with major events in European and Mediterranean history. Near Greenland, Viking raids coincided with a major step-wise precipitation increase after 600 CE. Viking settlement of Greenland coincided with a precipitation low. During the Egyptian Old Kingdom period of pyramid-building precipitation was higher than when the New Kingdom tombs were excavated. The Old Kingdom and Akkadian Empire both failed as precipitation descended into the same prolonged precipitation low. The end of the New Kingdom and of the other Bronze Age civilizations in the eastern Mediterranean and around the Aegean Sea coincided with the lowest ice accumulation rate in the past 5000 years. The Roman ‘Imperial Good Times’ coincided with a precipitation high. The brief 2nd century imperial reigns and those of late New Kingdom pharaohs accompanied precipitation lows, as did the Antonine and Justinianic plagues. A trans-Alpine ‘production see-saw’ hypothesis, in which the same precipitation levels generated opposite effects, fits the sequence of successes and failures of western civilizations. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Holdaway, Richard N |
spellingShingle |
Holdaway, Richard N Empirical comparisons between the past 5000 years of European and Eastern Mediterranean history and precipitation as recorded by ice accumulation in the GISP2 (Greenland) ice core |
author_facet |
Holdaway, Richard N |
author_sort |
Holdaway, Richard N |
title |
Empirical comparisons between the past 5000 years of European and Eastern Mediterranean history and precipitation as recorded by ice accumulation in the GISP2 (Greenland) ice core |
title_short |
Empirical comparisons between the past 5000 years of European and Eastern Mediterranean history and precipitation as recorded by ice accumulation in the GISP2 (Greenland) ice core |
title_full |
Empirical comparisons between the past 5000 years of European and Eastern Mediterranean history and precipitation as recorded by ice accumulation in the GISP2 (Greenland) ice core |
title_fullStr |
Empirical comparisons between the past 5000 years of European and Eastern Mediterranean history and precipitation as recorded by ice accumulation in the GISP2 (Greenland) ice core |
title_full_unstemmed |
Empirical comparisons between the past 5000 years of European and Eastern Mediterranean history and precipitation as recorded by ice accumulation in the GISP2 (Greenland) ice core |
title_sort |
empirical comparisons between the past 5000 years of european and eastern mediterranean history and precipitation as recorded by ice accumulation in the gisp2 (greenland) ice core |
publisher |
Oxford University Press (OUP) |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oxfclm/kgad007 https://academic.oup.com/oocc/advance-article-pdf/doi/10.1093/oxfclm/kgad007/51258783/kgad007.pdf https://academic.oup.com/oocc/article-pdf/3/1/kgad007/54362360/kgad007.pdf |
genre |
GISP Greenland Greenland ice core ice core |
genre_facet |
GISP Greenland Greenland ice core ice core |
op_source |
Oxford Open Climate Change volume 3, issue 1 ISSN 2634-4068 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfclm/kgad007 |
container_title |
Oxford Open Climate Change |
container_volume |
3 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1810444873530081280 |