How Climate Made History. Episode 2

Description

Is it possible that climate change could have kick-started the end of Antiquity? When temperatures drop and the climate becomes drier, the Huns swarm Europe. It’s the last straw and brings about a mass migration that shakes the foundations of the Roman Empire. They abandon cities like London – the ghost-towns of Antiquity. Could this have been enough to herald the beginning of the ‘Dark Ages’ that follow? Historic sources from Byzantium right across to China have a different suggestion, now backed up by new scientific insights: around 536 AD, the Ilopango Volcano in Central America erupts. The eruption is violent and propels ashes right up into the Stratosphere. The result: the sun dims to a blueish hue that struggles to break through the ash-layer. The following 10 years are extraordinarily cold: this is the beginning of the dark middle ages, marked by famine, war, and an almost complete loss of cultural heritage.

Runtime

52 min 17 sec

Series

Subjects

Database

Films on Demand

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