Cave wall depicts 500-year-old climate change

A 500-year-old story of social upheaval caused by climate change has been discovered in “graffiti” on the walls of a cave in central China.

The inscriptions, describing the effect of droughts across several generations, provide a warning and lesson for a warming world, say scientists.

Seven drought events between 1520 and 1920 are documented in the graffiti, which tells of conflict, starvation and even cannibalism.