Genghis Khan, born Temüjin around 1162, united the Mongol tribes in 1206 and launched a campaign of conquest that would create the largest contiguous empire in human history. Under him and his immediate successors, the Mongols conquered northern China, Central Asia, Persia, parts of the Middle East, and much of Eastern Europe.
Their armies moved with terrifying speed and employed sophisticated tactics, siege warfare, and psychological terror.
The human cost was staggering. Historians estimate that the Mongol conquests of the 13th century killed approximately 40 million people, roughly 11% of the world’s total population at the time, when global numbers stood around between 360-450 million.
In some regions the impact was even more catastrophic. Parts of northern China saw population drops of up to 50-70%, while Persia and Central Asia lost perhaps three-quarters of their inhabitants in certain areas.
Cities that resisted were often annihilated, with entire populations put to the sword and pyramids of skulls left as warnings. Vast agricultural lands were abandoned as farmers, artisans, and urban dwellers died or fled.
This mass depopulation had an unintended environmental consequence. Millions of hectares of farmland across Asia reverted to wilderness. Forests rapidly regrew on abandoned fields and pastures.
A 2011 study published in The Holocene by Julia Pongratz and colleagues used historical population data and land-use modeling to calculate that this reforestation sequestered roughly 700 million tons of carbon from the atmosphere. The scale was large enough to cause a small but measurable decline in global atmospheric CO₂ levels, visible in ice core records. It remains one of the largest single human-induced carbon sinks in the pre-industrial era.
Of course, Genghis Khan and the Mongols were not environmentalists in any modern sense. Their goal was conquest, wealth, and power. The reforestation and carbon removal were purely accidental byproducts of demographic collapse on a continental scale.
The Mongol Empire ultimately facilitated trade and cultural exchange across Eurasia under the *Pax Mongolica*, but its foundation was built on extraordinary levels of violence and destruction.
In short, the 13th-century Mongols achieved what no modern climate policy has ever matched, planetary-scale carbon sequestration through the simple mechanism of removing tens of millions of people and letting nature reclaim the land.
LOSNA17LL on
Genghis Khan was no “climate activits”, tho 😛
Resident_Neutral on
Then is Pol Pot also a climate activist ? Since he wanted to revert Cambodia back into an agricultural society
biglyorbigleague on
I saved them from dying of climate change by killing them myself
Brinabavd on
If Greta was a horse girl instead of a boat girl:
coolkiller666 on
That’s literally what Eco-fascists want to do.
Catalytic_Crazy_ on
This is why I don’t trust anyone who claims they want to save the planet from global warming and doesn’t have plan to lead a mass cavalry charge across Eurasia.
junrod0079 on
The average civilization player trying to lower the co2 meter before it’s start ruining current or potential city settlement blocks
sentientshadow2000 on
Was Hitler a Climate Activist?
EnergyHumble3613 on
TBF… The Great Khan didn’t know that would happen.
He just wanted to send a message and nothing does that better than an entire city looted, torched, and left lifeless by the Horde and a quick swing back a handful of days later to ensure *no survivors*.
The rest of the neighbouring communities fold like paper and with little bloodshed… and if they don’t they get the same treatment. Rinse and repeat until the war is over.
Funny enough the only place this didn’t work on was the Song dynasty and required a new approach under a new Khan to finalize its conquest.
Sloth_Flag_Republic on
We are over due for a horde of horse warriors from the Eurasian steppe coming out of nowhere and destroying empires.
TehProfessor96 on
Obligatory comment pointing out that plastic recycling was a scam and modern climate activists don’t support it much.
Express_Dinner7918 on
You see guys. Hitler, Mao, and Stalin weren’t monsters, they were saving the planet. Huge /s
TheQuestionMaster8 on
Nuclear power is actually a highly cost effective way of solving climate change… if we build breeder reactors to make weapons grade plutonium and nuke every city on earth.
CupBeEmpty on
Corpses are an effective carbon capture tool… got it
Hot_Pilot_3293 on
They said Greta wouldn’t go to Gaza and she proved them wrong…
Aurelian_s on
Actually we can recycle and also reduce the amount of ultra rich people who contribute shit tonnes of carbons like shopping from other countries using their private jets.
17 Comments
Genghis Khan, born Temüjin around 1162, united the Mongol tribes in 1206 and launched a campaign of conquest that would create the largest contiguous empire in human history. Under him and his immediate successors, the Mongols conquered northern China, Central Asia, Persia, parts of the Middle East, and much of Eastern Europe.
Their armies moved with terrifying speed and employed sophisticated tactics, siege warfare, and psychological terror.
The human cost was staggering. Historians estimate that the Mongol conquests of the 13th century killed approximately 40 million people, roughly 11% of the world’s total population at the time, when global numbers stood around between 360-450 million.
In some regions the impact was even more catastrophic. Parts of northern China saw population drops of up to 50-70%, while Persia and Central Asia lost perhaps three-quarters of their inhabitants in certain areas.
Cities that resisted were often annihilated, with entire populations put to the sword and pyramids of skulls left as warnings. Vast agricultural lands were abandoned as farmers, artisans, and urban dwellers died or fled.
This mass depopulation had an unintended environmental consequence. Millions of hectares of farmland across Asia reverted to wilderness. Forests rapidly regrew on abandoned fields and pastures.
A 2011 study published in The Holocene by Julia Pongratz and colleagues used historical population data and land-use modeling to calculate that this reforestation sequestered roughly 700 million tons of carbon from the atmosphere. The scale was large enough to cause a small but measurable decline in global atmospheric CO₂ levels, visible in ice core records. It remains one of the largest single human-induced carbon sinks in the pre-industrial era.
Of course, Genghis Khan and the Mongols were not environmentalists in any modern sense. Their goal was conquest, wealth, and power. The reforestation and carbon removal were purely accidental byproducts of demographic collapse on a continental scale.
The Mongol Empire ultimately facilitated trade and cultural exchange across Eurasia under the *Pax Mongolica*, but its foundation was built on extraordinary levels of violence and destruction.
In short, the 13th-century Mongols achieved what no modern climate policy has ever matched, planetary-scale carbon sequestration through the simple mechanism of removing tens of millions of people and letting nature reclaim the land.
Genghis Khan was no “climate activits”, tho 😛
Then is Pol Pot also a climate activist ? Since he wanted to revert Cambodia back into an agricultural society
I saved them from dying of climate change by killing them myself
If Greta was a horse girl instead of a boat girl:
That’s literally what Eco-fascists want to do.
This is why I don’t trust anyone who claims they want to save the planet from global warming and doesn’t have plan to lead a mass cavalry charge across Eurasia.
The average civilization player trying to lower the co2 meter before it’s start ruining current or potential city settlement blocks
Was Hitler a Climate Activist?
TBF… The Great Khan didn’t know that would happen.
He just wanted to send a message and nothing does that better than an entire city looted, torched, and left lifeless by the Horde and a quick swing back a handful of days later to ensure *no survivors*.
The rest of the neighbouring communities fold like paper and with little bloodshed… and if they don’t they get the same treatment. Rinse and repeat until the war is over.
Funny enough the only place this didn’t work on was the Song dynasty and required a new approach under a new Khan to finalize its conquest.
We are over due for a horde of horse warriors from the Eurasian steppe coming out of nowhere and destroying empires.
Obligatory comment pointing out that plastic recycling was a scam and modern climate activists don’t support it much.
You see guys. Hitler, Mao, and Stalin weren’t monsters, they were saving the planet. Huge /s
Nuclear power is actually a highly cost effective way of solving climate change… if we build breeder reactors to make weapons grade plutonium and nuke every city on earth.
Corpses are an effective carbon capture tool… got it
They said Greta wouldn’t go to Gaza and she proved them wrong…
Actually we can recycle and also reduce the amount of ultra rich people who contribute shit tonnes of carbons like shopping from other countries using their private jets.