Climate change might have helped bring about the fall of the
ancient Khmer civilization in Angkor, Cambodia, nearly 600 years
ago, new research suggests. Historians have given various
explanations for the fall of the empire that stretched across
much of Southeast Asia between the ninth and 14th centuries (801
to 1400), from land overexploitation to conflict with rival
kingdoms. But the new study offers strong evidence that two
severe droughts, punctuated by bouts of heavy monsoon rain,
could have weakened the empire by shrinking water supplies for
drinking and agriculture, and damaging Angkor's vast irrigation
system, which was central to its economy. The kingdom, one of
the greatest civilizations of all time, is thought to have
collapsed in 1431 after a raid by the Siamese from present-day
Thailand. "Angkor at that time faced a number of problems —
social, political and cultural. Environmental change pushed the
ancient Khmers to the limit and they weren't able to adapt,"
said study author Brendan Buckley, a