History is Written in Rain

The fifteenth of September? More like the fifteenth of November. The remains of a tropical storm called Henri, that apparently formed over the North Atlantic (O climate change!), has come wending its way toward us. As it approaches it will suddenly increase its power and punch us in the face. Between today and tomorrow we'll have winds of over 100 kilometers per hour, and in a twelve hour period more than eighty liters per square meter in our area of Galicia, the Rías Baixas. Already it's been raining since last night.

In the developed countries of the first world we have become mostly insulated from weather extremes. We now have weatherproofed homes, travel in cars with heat and air conditioning, have good clothing to protect us from the elements. Our food supply is also pretty much guaranteed. Between the chemicals we add to the plants and soil to ensure plenitude, and our ability to import from a part of the world that has not been affected by bad weather, we do not go hungry any more due to a drought or excessive rain. Perhaps that is one reason for us to have settled down and not had any major conflicts since World War Two. It has been pointed out that extreme weather problems have sometimes been at the roots of revolutions and wars. It has also been pointed out that climate change will bring more wars in poorer countries over control of dwindling resources, such as water. 

Extreme weather may also have affected history in different ways. It has been pointed out that witch hunts occurred massively during the Little Ice Age, including the Salem Witch Trials. Many of the unfortunates were accused of hexing crops and creating storms which killed people and cattle. Those weather phenomena were a result of the cold climate then affecting the northern hemisphere. Massive crop failures during the Middle Ages, combined with the decrease in population due to the Black Death, also contributed to the different Peasant Revolts all over Europe, which, in turn, caused the decline of feudalism and the beginnings of modern governments.

The French Revolution also has a debt with the weather. There was severe weather with hailstones and flooding between 1787 and 1788, which made food prices go through the roof. Between that and extra taxes levied on the population to pay for France's involvement in wars, including the American Revolution, peasants revolted and eventually made away with the Ancien Régime, ushering in a new era in history. Closer to home was the Irish Potato Famine of the 1840's, causing a massive migration from Ireland to the United States and Canada. Already in the modern age, what may have been the tipping point in 1917 Russia were the severe winters that affected harvests during the middle of the first World War. In February, 1917, riots against the Czar over food shortages precipitated events and led to the Czar's abdication and Kerensky's new government. Later that year the Bolsheviks took advantage of the confusion in the new government and then went on to create Soviet Russia.


One could also argue that the rise of new religions occurred around a time of climatic change and severe weather. Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire in 380, just before the decline of the Empire, at a time when weather became wild and unpredictable, leading to crop failures. Islam also appeared shortly thereafter. Protestantism arose in the 1500's, after a century of famines, revolts, and epidemics. Perhaps people were searching for an answer to the unstability in their lives that their original belief systems were not giving them. 

We are the pampered humans of history. In the middle of a climatic change that is beginning to affect millions in other parts of the planet, in the first world we still have plenty of food and no problems with insulating ourselves from the weather. But if we were forced to depend on local harvests for our food, and our clothing (cotton, linen, and wool), there would be unrest and possibly civil wars in many countries. Especially with the addition of the economic recession which is not completely over. But we should remember, that sooner or later, history will repeat itself.