Ming Dynasty Climate Change

The article’s authors identity what they consider to be three ways climate change contributed to the downfall of the Ming dynasty. The temperature and dry-wet index of China is reconstructed and data of provincial population was collated as was grain productivity in order to analyze the three factors. The conclusion of the article points to peasant uprisings and the stress place upon the military due to severe droughts and a cooler climate.
The article analyzes the effect climate change had on the peasant population in terms of uprising during the Ming reign which allowed the Manchu to take advantage of the social vulnerability of the Ming. The relationship with northern nomadic tribes as well as the war on the Korean peninsula supports an