If you read the article closely, you will find out they aren't talking about global warming. Actually, warmer periods are equated with prosperity. Global cooling is what helped doom the Romans and create problems in the Middle Ages. The headline only mentions "Climate Change." I can't help but believe Reuters understands the incorrect assumption most people will make.
(Reuters) - Climate change seems a factor in the rise and fall of the Roman empire, according to a study of ancient tree growth that urges greater awareness of the risks of global warming in the 21st century.
Good growth by oak and pine trees in central Europe in the past 2,500 years signaled warm and wet summers and coincided with periods of wealth among farming societies, for instance around the height of the Roman empire or in medieval times.
Periods of climate instability overlapped with political turmoil, such as during the decline of the Roman empire, and might even have made Europeans vulnerable to the Black Death or help explain migration to America during the chill 17th century.
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