Climate of the Past www.clim-past.net 1814-9324 1814-9332 6 4 2010 10.5194/cp-6-525-2010 http://www.clim-past.net/6/525/2010/ http://www.clim-past.net/6/525/2010/cp-6-525-2010.html http://www.clim-past.net/6/525/2010/cp-6-525-2010.pdf 525 530 2010-08-24 Climate change and the demise of Minoan civilization A. A. Tsonis aatsonis@uwm.edu K. L. Swanson G. Sugihara P. A. Tsonis Department of Mathematical Sciences, Atmospheric Sciences Group, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI 53201, USA Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0202, USA Department of Biology, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH 45469, USA Climate change has been implicated in the success and downfall of several ancient civilizations. Here we present a synthesis of historical, climatic, and geological evidence that supports the hypothesis that climate change may have been responsible for the slow demise of Minoan civilization. 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