Study: Mediterranean Warmest During Roman Empire

A new study suggests the Mediterranean Sea was the warmest during the Roman Empire than any other time in the past 2,000 years

The research, published in Scientific Reports, notes the Mediterranean was 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius) warmer "than average values for the late centuries for the Sicily and Western Mediterranean regions."

The researchers also found there was a "general cooling trend" after the Roman Empire ended in 500 A.D. "We hypothesis the potential link between this Roman Climatic Optimum and the expansion and subsequent decline of the Roman Empire," the researchers wrote in the study's abstract.