Editing Angkor (section)

==== Natural disaster ====
[[File:Angkor Chau Say Tevoda 2009.jpg|thumb|right|[[Chau Say Tevoda]]]]
Other scholars attempting to account for the rapid decline and abandonment of Angkor have hypothesized natural disasters such as disease (Bubonic Plague), earthquakes, inundations, or drastic climate changes as the relevant agents of destruction.{{sfn|Coedès|1943|p=30}} A study of tree rings in Vietnam produced a record of early monsoons that passed through this area. From this study, we can tell that during the 14th–15th centuries monsoons were weakened and eventually followed by extreme flooding. Their inability to adapt their flooding infrastructure may have led to its eventual decline.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Buckley, B. M. |author2=Anchukaitis, K. J. |author3=Penny, D. |author4=Fletcher, R. |author5=Cook, E. R. |author6=Sano, M. |author7=Nam, L. C. |author8=Wichienkeeo, A. |author9=Minh, T. T. |author10=Hong, T. M. |name-list-style=amp |year=2010 |title=Climate as a contributing factor in the demise of Angkor, Cambodia |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=107 |issue=15 |pages=6748–52 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0910827107|pmid=20351244 |pmc=2872380 |bibcode=2010PNAS..107.6748B |doi-access=free }}</ref>

Recent research by Australian archaeologists suggests that the decline may have been due to a shortage of water caused by the transition from the [[Medieval Warm Period]] to the [[Little Ice Age]].<ref>{{cite news |publisher=Australian Associated Press |title=Climate change killed ancient city |via=News AU |date=14 March 2007 |url=http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21380223-1702,00.html |access-date=12 November 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080116142532/http://www.news.com.au/story/0%2C23599%2C21380223-1702%2C00.html |archive-date= 16 January 2008}}</ref> [[Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory|LDEO]] [[Dendrochronology|dendrochronological research]] has established tree-ring chronologies indicating severe periods of [[drought]] across [[mainland Southeast Asia]] in the early 15th century, raising the possibility that Angkor's canals and reservoirs ran dry and ended expansion of available farmland.<ref>{{cite news |last=Nelson |first=Andy |title=The secret life of ancient trees |newspaper=Christian Science Monitor |date=10 November 2009 |url=http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2009/11/10/the-secret-life-of-ancient-trees/ |access-date=12 November 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091112102431/http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2009/11/10/the-secret-life-of-ancient-trees/ |archive-date=12 November 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref>