Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

May not be the only benefit, during the Medieval Warm Period humanity benefited greatly from increased crop yields and milder winters.


> May not be the only benefit, during the Medieval Warm Period humanity benefited greatly from increased crop yields and milder winters.

"Humanity" meaning Northern Europeans? The MWP led to prolonged droughts and floods throughout other parts of the world.


Other parts of the world didn't keep as good records, so the data is not great. A drought in north America seemed clear, but other parts of the world did not seem to be badly affected.

That's kind of the nature of change - some benefit, others loose. Anyway, I was just listing another example of a benefit, not trying to make a value judgment.


There is a hypothesis that the Angkor civilization collapsed due to the lake and wetlands around the city drying up. It is widely agreed that at the time the city around Angkor Wat was the largest in the world. The Angkor civilization collapsed at roughly the time of the Medieval warming period.

It is just a hypothesis but a very interesting one.


The medieval warming period was mild compared to the warming we're having now and the warming we're going to have over the next century.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: