Did the Mongol Invasions Trigger a Little Ice Age?

Debunking the “Chinggis Khan the Green” theory

The siege of Baghdad(1258) by Hulagu Khan marked the high point of Mongol Invasions. Image source: Wikimedia

The idea that our planet cooled because of the Mongol invasions has been a hot topic of discussion for more than a decade. Chinggis Khan was dubbed “the Green Conqueror” because he slaughtered so many people that total carbon emissions fell, lowering the earth’s temperature.

Some have even claimed Mongol conquests caused the Little Ice Age in the 14th century. This isn’t just some random conspiracy theory. There is some science behind the claim.

Julia Pongratz and her colleagues published an article in the journal Holocene in 2011 that examined the effects of epidemics and wars on global carbon dioxide emissions between 850 and 1850.

She discovered that the Mongol Invasions, which killed 40 million people, significantly cut world carbon dioxide emissions. Though the Black Death killed 75 million people in a shorter period, the researchers concluded the Mongol conquests were the pri…