[Article] Climate as a contributing factor in the demise of Angkor, Cambodia

Edited by Joyce Marcus, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, and approved February 26, 2010.
Brendan M. Buckley a,1, Kevin J. Anchukaitis a, Daniel Penny b, Roland Fletcher c, Edward R. Cook a, Masaki Sano d, Le Canh Nam e, Aroonrut Wichienkeeo f, Ton That Minh e, and Truong Mai Hong g.

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a, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, NY, 10964;

b, School of Geosciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia;

c, Department of Archaeology, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia;

d, Department of Agriculture, Ehime University, Ehime, Japan;

e, Bidoup Nui Ba National Park, Lam Dong Province, Vietnam;

f, Department of History, Chiang Mai Rajabhat University, Chiang Mai, Thailand; and

g, Nong Lam University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

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Abstract

The “hydraulic city” of Angkor, the capitol of the Khmer Empire in Cambodia, experienced decades-long drought interspersed with intense monsoons in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries that, in combination with other factors, contributed to its eventual demise. The climatic evidence comes from a seven-and-a-half century robust hydroclimate reconstruction from tropical southern Vietnamese tree rings. The Angkor droughts were of a duration and severity that would have impacted the sprawling city’s water supply and agricultural productivity, while high-magnitude monsoon years damaged its water control infrastructure. Hydroclimate variability for this region is strongly and inversely correlated with tropical Pacific sea surface temperature, indicating that a warm Pacific and El Niño events induce drought at interannual and interdecadal time scales, and that low-frequency variations of tropical Pacific climate can exert significant influence over Southeast Asian climate and society.

1, To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: bmb@ldeo.columbia.edu.

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Read the open-access article here.

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More informations :

- Did Climate Influence Angkor's Collapse? Evidence Suggests Changing Environment Can Bring Down a Civilization | Science Daily | Mar. 30, 2010.

- Did climate influence Angkor's collapse? | Science Blog via e! Science News | Mar. 29, 2010.

- Angkor lesson for cities | The Telegraph | G.S. MUDUR | March 31.

- Climate blamed in fall of Angkor | The Phnom Penh Post | James O'Toole | Mar. 31, 2010.

- Angkor Wat doomed by drought, floods, suggests tree ring study | Science Fair/USA Today | Dan Vergano | Mar. 29, 2010.

(Photograph:) Columbia scientist Brendan Buckley removes a core from an old tree in Vietnam. Tree cores helped Buckley and his team reconstruct the climate history.

Courtesy: Earth Institute, Columbia University