Stuff They Don't Want You To Know CLASSIC: Natural Disaster and Revolution
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Feb 27, 2026 A look at how natural disasters have sparked revolts and toppled empires throughout history. They explore studies linking disasters to civil conflict and examine ancient collapses like Angkor and the Bronze Age. The conversation covers modern climate trends, rising economic and human costs, migration pressures, and how denial and self-interest shape responses.
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Disasters Raise The Odds Of Civil Conflict
- Natural disasters increase the risk of violent civil conflict, especially in low/middle income, unequal, politically mixed, slow-growth states.
- Philip Nell and Marjolene Righarts' study found rapid-onset geological and climate disasters raise short- and medium-term conflict risk across 187 political units (1950–2000).
Distant Eruptions Can Trigger Civilizational Dominoes
- Single remote events can cascade into empire-wide collapse because existing social and economic dominoes are already precarious.
- The Bronze Age/Iceland volcanic example shows eruptions triggered systemic failures rather than causing collapse by themselves.
Climate Extremes Are Becoming More Variable And Dangerous
- Climate change makes extremes more variable: more floods and droughts occur alongside hotter temperatures, raising population exposure and vulnerability.
- The Asian Development Bank review confirms rising frequency/intensity of floods, storms, droughts, heat waves and more variable rainfall patterns.