WAS GENGHIS KHAN AN ECO-WARRIOR?

Genghis Khan was the most feared invader in history. His Mongol armies kille
d over 40 millionpeople and wiped out entire civilizations. Yet, the Guardian n
ewspaper says the bloodthirstyruler was good for planet earth.

The Mongol
invasion lasted a century and a half and it created an empire, which covered a
quarter of the globe. During the 13th century Genghis attacked many populate
d areas. WhileGenghis left a lot of dead bodies, he didn’t leave a carbon foot
print. In fact, he did theopposite. Trees once again grew on the land that was
once occupied by the people he killed.The trees became forests. The forests
became huge. The trees absorbed carbon dioxide. Theenvironment became g
reener.

According to one study, Genghis removed over 700 million tons of carbon fro
m theatmosphere. Which is the same amount of carbon generated on the worl
d’s roads every year.

Researcher Julia Pongratz explained that man-

made climate change began long before theindustrial era.

She said, “Humans started to influence the environment thousands of years a

go. We changedthe Earth’s landscapes when we cleared forests for agricultur
e.”

Genghis Khan’s environmental impact is comparable to other historical events

such as theBlack Death in Europe, the fall of China’s Ming Dynasty and the c
onquest of the Americas.

All these events led to massive depopulation and an increase in forests, but n
one comparedwith the huge decrease in carbon during the period of the Mong
ol empire.

Environmentalists argue Genghis is the only historical figure responsible for m

anmade global
cooling. You could say the ‘great invader’ was an unwitting agent of nature.
The Mongol invasion only decreased global carbon dioxide by a fraction. Yet it
still is the mostsignificant reduction recorded in history. The irony is, there wa
s no significant environmentaldamage caused by carbon in Genghis’s time.

It may sound callous to say every cloud has a silver lining, but there were
unintendedbenefits to depopulation. The needs of man and the needs of natur
e are not always the samething. A balance must be found if we are to live in h
armony.