Scientific Factors of how Climate Instability Served as a Catalyst to the Collapse and Fall of Rome and the Western Roman Empire

In the past two centuries, the world has experienced radical change, ever since two superpowers, the United States and Great Britain, transformed their economy by shifting from agriculture to the production of steel and manufacturing. The resulting transformation of the global economy has raised average global temperatures by 1.4° Fahrenheit. Current climate change is alarming because as we look back into history, a similar superpower may have declined and collapsed because of the effects of the deterioration of the environment. According to scientific evidence, the Roman Empire, as mighty as it was, fell partly as a result of climate instability indicating a connection between climate instability and the decline of the Western Roman Empire. Evidence from archaeobotanical remains, tree rings, speleothems, and weather patterns suggests that climate instability in Late Antiquity correlates to the fall of Rome and the Western Roman Empire and may have served as a catalyst in this collapse. Climate instability was responsible for the migration of communities from the East that were being displaced by the Huns, a megatribe that left its territory in search of food due to megadroughts in Central Asia. These mass migrations weakened the already declining Western Roman Empire. The findings of this study therefore indicate that climate instability in Central Asia was ultimately responsible for the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. As a society, we should view the past as a cautionary tale in which we must be aware of climate instability in our world today and take action against it.