Early river civilizations were highly vulnerable to climatic changes. These early farmers were reliant on the annual rise and fall of the rivers they lived on. Even a single bad year would be disastrous. Repeated failures could end whole civilization or bring chaos for decades. Climate change lead to the destabilization of Egypt, and the destruction of the Indus Valley civilization. Civilization can survive climate change but it will still cause massive change and destution. The Indus Valley was perhaps the most effected. It was a flourishing region with mighty cities like Harappa and Mohenjo Daro. These cities were supported by the indus river and a lush hinterland. When a major drought fell on the indus river basion we saw the population decline, “by 1700 BCE, the population of the old Harappan heart had plummeted” (100). Some cities continued to be occupied at a diminished level. Some places managed to avoid the worst by changing crops, “on the Gujarat peninsula, population and the number of settlements increased. They abandoned wheat as a crop, instead cultivating a kind of drought-enduring millet” (77). Yet by 1500 BCE the people had not been able to rebuild and were conquered by a new people who would lay the foundations for Hinduism. The culture the built the cities of Harappa and Mohenjo Daro …show more content…
The Niles annual flood was necessary to replinsh the qualty of the soil. We know this because “the hieroglyphic inscription tell us that the Nile no longer flooded over its banks to replenish the fields with fresh soil” (76). The with out the yearly floods the soil declined coupled with the loss of water lead a repeated failure of crops and low harvests. The pharaoh was responsibly for the raise and fall of the river, it failure was interpreted as his failure. That coupled with the ensuing famine lead to a rise in nobles and a succession of weak leaders for