by DEBORAH NETBURN
In the rings of ancient and gnarled trees, a team of scientists has found evidence of a period of consistent warmth and wetness in Mongolia between the years 1211 and 1225 — the exact time that Genghis Khan first rose to power.
Coincidence? They think not.
This unusual stretch of mild temperatures and unprecedented rain in an area traditionally known for its cold and arid climate would have increased the productivity of grasslands in the Mongolian steppe, the researchers say. The abundant grass would in turn increase the number of grazing animals that could live off it.
Members of Khan’s army reportedly had five horses apiece, which allowed them to swiftly conquer an enormous area that stretched from eastern Asia to eastern Europe, as well as parts of northern India and the Mideast. They also traveled with a herd of livestock that provided them with food.
“I think of it as nature set the table, and Genghis Khan came to eat,” said Amy Hessl, a tree-ring scientist at West Virginia University, in a video describing the research. “He didn’t have to come eat, and he didn’t have to eat the way he did, but the table was set and it was a matter of whether or not the culture and the people capitalized on that.”
Her colleague Neil Pederson of Columbia University’s Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory put it this way: “Grass was the power of the day.”
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