short-term droughts and unprecedented heavy rains often occurred. Despite increasing resilience to disasters, the population was increased to the limit of the environmental capacity of the land. Furthermore, when significant climate change occurred,
civilizations could no longer adapt to these changes and many people died; those
who survived were scattered in various places (Fagan 2004).
A comprehensive analysis of historical, archaeological, and paleoclimatological
evidence has demonstrated that a sudden change to drought occurred in the Nile,
Mesopotamian, Indus, and Yellow basins from 2200 to 2000 B.C. This sudden
change is standard for the mid-latitudes. This was a robust cold event since the
Holocene entered the Great Warm Period. The decline of the Nile civilization
occurred in the first intermediate period (2181–2040 B.C.), and the decline of
Mesopotamian civilization began with the disintegration of the Akkad Kingdom,
until the establishment of the Kingdom of Babylon, at around 2200–1900 B.C. The
Indus civilization then suddenly declined in 1800 B.C. The cold events 4000 years
ago proved to be a fatal blow to the civilizations of these three basins. China
established the Xia Dynasty in 2070 B.C., which commenced the era of Chinese
civilization. Although there were “partial fractures” in the middle, this civilization
has continued to this day as the Chinese civilization (Wang 2005).
The four ancient civilizations were all agricultural civilizations, and the formation, development, and decline of agriculture were all affected by climate change.
The following sequence of events may be considered the model of the formation,
rise, and fall of ancient civilizations from the climate change perspective:
Climate change such as cold events and droughts ) migration to warmth/
humidity/river areas ! population increase ! civilization occurrence/development
! drought/abnormal weather ! overcome by technological innovation in the shortterm/civilization collapses in the long term
Of course, there may be other reasons that have caused the decline of civilizations, such as population growth, the destruction of the environment by human
activities, and wars. However, a sudden change in climate may be one of the most
influential factors.
In recent years, many studies have identified that the climate change during the
Holocene may have been strongly related to the rise and fall of human civilization.
As there is concern regarding rapid climate change due to global warming, it is
essential to understand the Holocene climate change quantitatively and with high
time resolution, to clarify its mechanism and its impact on humankind in predicting
its impact on society.
1.2.3 Rise and Fall of Chinese Civilization and Climate
Change
The Chinese civilization that originated in the Yellow and Yangtze basins is the only
ancient civilization that has not been interrupted among the four ancient
8
W. Zhou
civilizations could no longer adapt to these changes and many people died; those
who survived were scattered in various places (Fagan 2004).
A comprehensive analysis of historical, archaeological, and paleoclimatological
evidence has demonstrated that a sudden change to drought occurred in the Nile,
Mesopotamian, Indus, and Yellow basins from 2200 to 2000 B.C. This sudden
change is standard for the mid-latitudes. This was a robust cold event since the
Holocene entered the Great Warm Period. The decline of the Nile civilization
occurred in the first intermediate period (2181–2040 B.C.), and the decline of
Mesopotamian civilization began with the disintegration of the Akkad Kingdom,
until the establishment of the Kingdom of Babylon, at around 2200–1900 B.C. The
Indus civilization then suddenly declined in 1800 B.C. The cold events 4000 years
ago proved to be a fatal blow to the civilizations of these three basins. China
established the Xia Dynasty in 2070 B.C., which commenced the era of Chinese
civilization. Although there were “partial fractures” in the middle, this civilization
has continued to this day as the Chinese civilization (Wang 2005).
The four ancient civilizations were all agricultural civilizations, and the formation, development, and decline of agriculture were all affected by climate change.
The following sequence of events may be considered the model of the formation,
rise, and fall of ancient civilizations from the climate change perspective:
Climate change such as cold events and droughts ) migration to warmth/
humidity/river areas ! population increase ! civilization occurrence/development
! drought/abnormal weather ! overcome by technological innovation in the shortterm/civilization collapses in the long term
Of course, there may be other reasons that have caused the decline of civilizations, such as population growth, the destruction of the environment by human
activities, and wars. However, a sudden change in climate may be one of the most
influential factors.
In recent years, many studies have identified that the climate change during the
Holocene may have been strongly related to the rise and fall of human civilization.
As there is concern regarding rapid climate change due to global warming, it is
essential to understand the Holocene climate change quantitatively and with high
time resolution, to clarify its mechanism and its impact on humankind in predicting
its impact on society.
1.2.3 Rise and Fall of Chinese Civilization and Climate
Change
The Chinese civilization that originated in the Yellow and Yangtze basins is the only
ancient civilization that has not been interrupted among the four ancient
8
W. Zhou