Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Genghis Khan, History's Greenest Conqueror

Posted by samzenpus on from the taking-the-good-with-the-bad dept.

New research suggests that in addition to being one of history's cruelest conquerors, Genghis Khan may have been the greenest. It is estimated that the Mongol leader's invasions unintentionally scrubbed almost 700 million tons of carbon from the atmosphere. From the article: "Over the course of the century and a half run of the Mongol Empire, about 22 percent of the world's total land area had been conquered and an estimated 40 million people were slaughtered by the horse-driven, bow-wielding hordes. Depopulation over such a large swathe of land meant that countless numbers of cultivated fields eventually returned to forests. In other words, one effect of Genghis Khan's unrelenting invasion was widespread reforestation, and the re-growth of those forests meant that more carbon could be absorbed from the atmosphere." I guess everyone has their good points.

9 of 279 comments (clear)

  1. What? Outrageous! by somersault · · Score: 3, Funny

    Someone should do something about these trees stealing all our carbon dioxides.

    --
    which is totally what she said
  2. Genghis was a greenie?! by jollyreaper · · Score: 4, Funny

    Glen Beck glares up at the sky. "KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!"

    --
    Kwisatz Haderach
    Sell the spice to CHOAM
    This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
  3. Kahn? by D+Ninja · · Score: 4, Funny

    Genghis Kahn? Huh...I tried to look him up, but couldn't find anything out about him. Lots of information about another guy called Genghis Khan, though. But...that's probably just a coincidence.

    1. Re:Kahn? by Jah-Wren+Ryel · · Score: 3, Funny

      Genghis Kahn? Huh...I tried to look him up, but couldn't find anything out about him.

      He worked at Borland. He was Phillipe's brother.

      --
      When information is power, privacy is freedom.
  4. yep... by Charliemopps · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'm sure Al Gore will start up a pay-as-you-go Mongol Horde you can join if you really care about the environment any day now. Kill your neighbors, save a tree!

    1. Re:yep... by I8TheWorm · · Score: 1, Funny

      Careful, anytime I post something negative about Al Gore I get modded into oblivion and receive eleventymillion "just because he's a hypocrite doesn't mean he's a bad guy" comments.

      --
      Saying Android is a family of phones is akin to saying Linux is a family of PCs.
  5. Environmentalism = genocide? by mschaffer · · Score: 4, Funny

    So, how long until environmentalists call for mass execution to reduce humanity's carbon footprint?

  6. Any relation by otis+wildflower · · Score: 3, Funny

    to the late, great Madeline Kahn?

  7. Bob Genghis Khan by DudemanX · · Score: 4, Funny

    Was this before or after he totally ravaged Oshman's Sporting Goods?