Part 3: How El Nino Choked Civilisations and Stirred Revolution | The Rearview Podcast
This podcast episode explores the historical impact of the El Niño climate phenomenon on global civilizations, including links to the French Revolution and Indian famines. It also discusses how modern India manages climate-driven monsoon failures through economic policy rather than famine.
Why it matters
Understanding the historical and modern economic impacts of climate patterns is crucial for long-term food security and disaster management.
Could a warm patch of water in the Pacific have influenced both the French Revolution and some of India’s deadliest famines? In this concluding episode of the series, Jacob and Sobhana trace the extraordinary historical reach of El Niño, revealing how a climate phenomenon thousands of kilometres away has left its imprint on societies, economies and even moments that changed the course of history.
The episode revisits the devastating El Niño of 1877–78, when simultaneous droughts across India, China and Brazil unfolded as the world was becoming the first truly globalised economy. It explores intriguing links between climate extremes and events such as the 1789 Skull Famine in India and the years leading up to the French Revolution, while weighing the evidence with appropriate historical caution.
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