Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Climate Change and the Fall of the Roman Empire - lecture at the University of Maine

On Tuesday, April 26, Hudson Museum at the University of Maine will present a lecture by Michael McCormick, the Francis Goelet Professor of Medieval History at Harvard University, whose research and teaching focuses on the archaeology and history of the fall of the Roman Empire and the origins of medieval civilization.

In “Climate Change and the Fall of the Roman Empire,” McCormick will explore what bio-molecular evidence and climate change data suggest about the impact of volcanic events on the collapse of the Roman Empire and the rise of Carolingian Europe. Drawing on ice core evidence and primary documentary research for the period 750 to 950 AD, McCormick will explore the impact of volcanic events on the collapse of the Roman Empire and the rise of Carolingian Europe. Climate cooling caused by eight volcanic events, resulted in nine major winter anomalies that affected food production and human survival.

The lecture will be given at 7 p.m. in Hutchins Hall, Collins Center for the Arts, is free and open to the public.


Source: University of Maine