Ancient rocks link Late Antique Little Ice Age to Roman Empire decline
Historians have long debated whether climate change contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire. New geological evidence from Iceland supports that link, showing that a sudden surge of Greenlandic iceberg transport during the Late Antique Little Ice Age coincided with a period of instability, famine, and migration across Europe. The ice age is thought to have been triggered by volcanic ash from three massive eruptions, which blocked out sunlight and lowered global temperatures.

