Stockholm University study links ancient droughts to Bronze Age collapses

Researchers at Stockholm University have conducted a study on the climate processes that led to extreme droughts in the eastern Mediterranean during the late Bronze Age. The findings indicate that a combination of natural climate cycles, including changes in the Earth's orbit and a weakening of the African monsoon, intensified water shortages approximately 3,200 years ago.

These prolonged droughts contributed to the collapse of major Bronze Age civilizations, including the Mycenaean, Minoan, and Hittite empires. While the specific slow-onset drying process from that era has ceased, researchers note that modern human-driven climate changes are occurring at a much faster pace, presenting different mechanisms for potential future instability.

In separate environmental news, a study involving researchers from across the Baltic Sea region indicates that the Baltic Sea ecosystem is struggling to recover. Overfishing and eutrophication have fundamentally altered food webs, leading to oxygen-depleted zones and a loss of species balance. Climate change is further exacerbating these issues by increasing water temperatures.