Climate, peace, and conflict—past and present: Bridging insights from historical sciences and contemporary research

Sam White; Dominik Collet; AGUSTÍ ALCOBERRO; Mariano Barriendos; Rudolf Brázdil; Pau Castell; Siyu Chen; Cedric de Coning; Dagomar Degroot; Lukáš Dolák; Stefan Döring; Santiago Gorostiza; Katrin Kleemann; Florian Krampe; Kuan-Hui Lin; Nicolas Maughan; Natália Melo; Barry Molloy; Astrid E. J. Ogilvie; Piling Pai; Qing Pei; Christian Pfister; Silviya Serafimova; Diyang Zhang

doi:10.1007/s13280-024-02109-1

Climate, peace, and conflict—past and present: Bridging insights from historical sciences and contemporary research

Sam White, Dominik Collet, AGUSTÍ ALCOBERRO, Mariano Barriendos, Rudolf Brázdil, Pau Castell, Siyu Chen, Cedric de Coning, Dagomar Degroot, Lukáš Dolák, Stefan Döring, Santiago Gorostiza, Katrin Kleemann, Florian Krampe, Kuan-Hui Lin, Nicolas Maughan, Natália Melo, Barry Molloy, Astrid E. J. Ogilvie, Piling PaiQing Pei, Christian Pfister, Silviya Serafimova, Diyang Zhang

History of Science institute

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review

Abstract

Concern has risen that current global warming and more frequent extreme events such as droughts and floods will increase conflict around the world. This concern has spurred both social science research on contemporary climate, peace, and conflict as well as research in the historical sciences on past climate, weather, warfare, and violence. This perspectives article compares these two fields of scholarship and examines how each may benefit the other. It finds significant convergences in methods and insights across contemporary and historical research as well as persistent patterns in causal pathways between climate and conflict. Contemporary climate, peace, and conflict (CPC) research may sharpen methods and causal models for historical researchers. Historical studies, particularly those informed by contemporary research, may elucidate deep origins and long-term effects of climate-related conflicts. For policymakers and the public, history offers comprehensible ways to make sense of complex and contingent linkages and to construct cogent narratives of the past as well as storylines for the future.

Original language	English
Article number	e518
Pages (from-to)	774-792
Number of pages	19
Journal	Ambio
Volume	54
Early online date	4 Feb 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-024-02109-1
Publication status	Published - 4 Feb 2025

Keywords

Archaeology
Climate change
Conflict
History
Peace
Science communication

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1007/s13280-024-02109-1

Cite this

White, S., Collet, D., ALCOBERRO, AGUSTÍ., Barriendos, M., Brázdil, R., Castell, P., Chen, S., de Coning, C., Degroot, D., Dolák, L., Döring, S., Gorostiza, S., Kleemann, K., Krampe, F., Lin, K.-H., Maughan, N., Melo, N., Molloy, B., Ogilvie, A. E. J., ... Zhang, D. (2025). Climate, peace, and conflict—past and present: Bridging insights from historical sciences and contemporary research. Ambio, 54, 774-792. Article e518. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-024-02109-1

@article{fc0ecbf443b44a409fbb341332c9c213,

title = "Climate, peace, and conflict—past and present: Bridging insights from historical sciences and contemporary research",

abstract = "Concern has risen that current global warming and more frequent extreme events such as droughts and floods will increase conflict around the world. This concern has spurred both social science research on contemporary climate, peace, and conflict as well as research in the historical sciences on past climate, weather, warfare, and violence. This perspectives article compares these two fields of scholarship and examines how each may benefit the other. It finds significant convergences in methods and insights across contemporary and historical research as well as persistent patterns in causal pathways between climate and conflict. Contemporary climate, peace, and conflict (CPC) research may sharpen methods and causal models for historical researchers. Historical studies, particularly those informed by contemporary research, may elucidate deep origins and long-term effects of climate-related conflicts. For policymakers and the public, history offers comprehensible ways to make sense of complex and contingent linkages and to construct cogent narratives of the past as well as storylines for the future.",

keywords = "Archaeology, Climate change, Conflict, History, Peace, Science communication",

author = "Sam White and Dominik Collet and AGUST{\'I} ALCOBERRO and Mariano Barriendos and Rudolf Br{\'a}zdil and Pau Castell and Siyu Chen and {de Coning}, Cedric and Dagomar Degroot and Luk{\'a}{\v s} Dol{\'a}k and Stefan D{\"o}ring and Santiago Gorostiza and Katrin Kleemann and Florian Krampe and Kuan-Hui Lin and Nicolas Maughan and Nat{\'a}lia Melo and Barry Molloy and Ogilvie, {Astrid E. J.} and Piling Pai and Qing Pei and Christian Pfister and Silviya Serafimova and Diyang Zhang",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2025.",

year = "2025",

month = feb,

day = "4",

doi = "10.1007/s13280-024-02109-1",

language = "English",

volume = "54",

pages = "774--792",

journal = "Ambio",

issn = "0044-7447",

publisher = "Allen Press Inc.",

}

White, S, Collet, D, ALCOBERRO, AGUSTÍ, Barriendos, M, Brázdil, R, Castell, P, Chen, S, de Coning, C, Degroot, D, Dolák, L, Döring, S, Gorostiza, S, Kleemann, K, Krampe, F, Lin, K-H, Maughan, N, Melo, N, Molloy, B, Ogilvie, AEJ, Pai, P, Pei, Q, Pfister, C, Serafimova, S & Zhang, D 2025, 'Climate, peace, and conflict—past and present: Bridging insights from historical sciences and contemporary research', Ambio, vol. 54, e518, pp. 774-792. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-024-02109-1

TY - JOUR

T1 - Climate, peace, and conflict—past and present: Bridging insights from historical sciences and contemporary research

AU - White, Sam

AU - Collet, Dominik

AU - ALCOBERRO, AGUSTÍ

AU - Barriendos, Mariano

AU - Brázdil, Rudolf

AU - Castell, Pau

AU - Chen, Siyu

AU - de Coning, Cedric

AU - Degroot, Dagomar

AU - Dolák, Lukáš

AU - Döring, Stefan

AU - Gorostiza, Santiago

AU - Kleemann, Katrin

AU - Krampe, Florian

AU - Lin, Kuan-Hui

AU - Maughan, Nicolas

AU - Melo, Natália

AU - Molloy, Barry

AU - Ogilvie, Astrid E. J.

AU - Pai, Piling

AU - Pei, Qing

AU - Pfister, Christian

AU - Serafimova, Silviya

AU - Zhang, Diyang

PY - 2025/2/4

Y1 - 2025/2/4

N2 - Concern has risen that current global warming and more frequent extreme events such as droughts and floods will increase conflict around the world. This concern has spurred both social science research on contemporary climate, peace, and conflict as well as research in the historical sciences on past climate, weather, warfare, and violence. This perspectives article compares these two fields of scholarship and examines how each may benefit the other. It finds significant convergences in methods and insights across contemporary and historical research as well as persistent patterns in causal pathways between climate and conflict. Contemporary climate, peace, and conflict (CPC) research may sharpen methods and causal models for historical researchers. Historical studies, particularly those informed by contemporary research, may elucidate deep origins and long-term effects of climate-related conflicts. For policymakers and the public, history offers comprehensible ways to make sense of complex and contingent linkages and to construct cogent narratives of the past as well as storylines for the future.

AB - Concern has risen that current global warming and more frequent extreme events such as droughts and floods will increase conflict around the world. This concern has spurred both social science research on contemporary climate, peace, and conflict as well as research in the historical sciences on past climate, weather, warfare, and violence. This perspectives article compares these two fields of scholarship and examines how each may benefit the other. It finds significant convergences in methods and insights across contemporary and historical research as well as persistent patterns in causal pathways between climate and conflict. Contemporary climate, peace, and conflict (CPC) research may sharpen methods and causal models for historical researchers. Historical studies, particularly those informed by contemporary research, may elucidate deep origins and long-term effects of climate-related conflicts. For policymakers and the public, history offers comprehensible ways to make sense of complex and contingent linkages and to construct cogent narratives of the past as well as storylines for the future.

KW - Archaeology

KW - Climate change

KW - Conflict

KW - History

KW - Peace

KW - Science communication

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85218850098&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/ee84188a-d300-3020-8955-be494f3a79a4/

U2 - 10.1007/s13280-024-02109-1

DO - 10.1007/s13280-024-02109-1

M3 - Article

C2 - 39903377

SN - 0044-7447

VL - 54

SP - 774

EP - 792

JO - Ambio

JF - Ambio

M1 - e518

ER -