Christmas miracle: 17 degrees in Bethlehem - a look at the climate of antiquity!

Christmas miracle: 17 degrees in Bethlehem - a look at the climate of antiquity!

Bethlehem, Westjordanland, Palästina - In antiquity, the Roman Empire experienced a phase known as the "climate optimum", between 200 %. BC and AD 15 during this time, people enjoyed mild weather in the Mediterranean with optimal agricultural conditions. This contributed significantly to an economic upswing and a rapid population growth, in an era in which Jesus Christ also lived, as

climatic effects and their consequences

After the climate optimum, the region experienced a dramatic change that led to late antiquity. This time was characterized by climatic instability, which led to the small ice age, in which average temperatures sank. The historian Kyle Harper emphasizes that climatic fluctuations in Roman history are closely linked to political and social changes. The climatic conditions that favored life in the Roman Empire led at a time of prosperity, while the following cool periods correlate with migrations and the decline of the empire, as from the explanations of the wikipediatextes

At the moment we see a striking example of climate change, which is confirmed by the record temperatures in Bethlehem for Christmas 2024, which are considered very mild at 16 degrees, while for the Christmas Day even spring -like 17 degrees are forecast. These climatic conditions are in strong contrast to the historical degrees of the climate optimum and show the drastic changes that the earth experiences through human influences.