Science ID 536 AD, the worst year to be alive

A disturbing cloud of black ash blocks the sun from Europe to Asia. An epidemic of bubonic plague coincides with an intense cold wave. Harvests fail. Famine, darkness and misery abound.

All these conditions were ubiquitous in the northern hemisphere in 536 AD. The year was a turning point in an era of unprecedented devastation. It was so serious that researchers are describing this year the worst moment of life in the history of humanity. Or, like Michael McCormick, history professor at Harvard Science: "This was the beginning of one of the worst periods of life, if not the worst year."

Although the origins of the black and ash cloud were previously a mystery, a new article published in the newspaper antiquities indicates that a massive volcanic eruption in Iceland triggered the 18 months of darkness. Two more eruptions in the years 540 and 547 would worsen the cloud.

The ashes blocked the sun, causing freezing temperatures that destroyed crops and led to famine. Adding to the gloom, an epidemic of bubonic plague spread throughout the Eastern Roman Empire in 542 AD, causing deaths and giving way to a 30-year economic downturn.

The study, co-authored by McCormick, Christopher Loveluck, professor of history at the University of Nottingham, and glaciologist Paul Mayewski at the Climate Change Institute of the University of Maine at Orono, measured samples of ice in the Swiss Alps in order to highlight pollutants and potentially harmful atmospheric changes. illuminate the origins of the black cloud. During the study, researchers discovered lead-in-ice pollutants created by the rise of volcanic activity.

Ironically, historians believe that these pollutants triggered the rebirth of the European economy, pulling it from the deep and depressing abyss about 100 years later. Lead was crucial in silver production, which eventually led to economic recovery as the sky cleared up and the plague eased. As Loveluck told CNN: "There is evidence of a total economic transformation between 640 and 660".

So count your blessings. We have nothing that approaches this cataclysmic level of abject despair. At least not yet.

Source: CNN, Science