The Washington Post has an interesting discussion of how the climate of the Little Ice Age a few hundred years ago affected the development of civilizations across the world. During that time period centered on the 16th century, there was a lot of upheaval to world civilizations as cold conditions caused crop failures and altered the locations of pathogens and pests which hurt crop yields even where they did not fail. One culture which thrived was the Dutch, who were able to use their sea-going talents to transport grain and other crops to far-off lands when crops failed. If you like history, you will enjoy this article.
