Comet smashes triggered ancient famine [ March 536 AD ]

New Scientist ^ | January 7, 2009 | Ker Than

[Steve Van Doorn]

i am not sure what you are implying. But Islam would not have come to power if this famine didn’t take place.

[Steve Van Doorn]

"bubonic plague and it struck Constantinople in 540 C.E. killing 300,000 people."

there were around 500K there at the time.
must of been scary times

[count-your-change]

Ah, the good old days! Not so many days and not so good either.

[Antoninus]

Historical records tell us that from the beginning of March 536 AD, a fog of dust blanketed the atmosphere for 18 months. During this time, "the sun gave no more light than the moon", global temperatures plummeted and crops failed, says Dallas Abbott of Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in New York...

Ah, someone cites my good friend Procopius yet again. For anyone wanting some context, go here:

History of the Wars Books III & IV

Much has been made of Procopius's comments here. I thought the prevailing theory was that a volcano had erupted somewhere (maybe Krakatoa) and caused this phenomenon.

[Antoninus]

Cooler weather favored the spread of the bubonic plague and it struck Constantinople in 540 C.E. killing 300,000 people.

AD 542, actually.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

it struck Constantinople in 540 C.E. killing 300,000 people

It hit the entire Mediterranean basin, killing nearly half of the population, just during the period Justinian was trying to rebuild the old Empire. The effects were described in the recent book Justinian's Flea. Without it the Roman Empire might have been rebuilt and there likely would never have been a Muslim Conquest. Persia would still be Zoroastrian, Pakistan and Indonesia would still be all Hindu and Buddhist, the history of Western Europe would have been transformed beyond any recognition.

[freepersup]

Whenever one of these extraterrestial object impact stories surfaces, I am reminded of the amount of ash and gas put forth into the atmosphere by a single volcanic eruption; namely one Mount Pinatubo.

excerpt: START

In addition to the ash, Mount Pinatubo ejected between 15 and 30 million tons of sulfur dioxide gas. Sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere mixes with water and oxygen in the atmosphere to become sulfuric acid, which in turn triggers ozone depletion. Over 90% of the material released from the volcano was ejected during the nine hour eruption of June 15.

The eruption plume of Mount Pinatubo's various gases and ash reached high into the atmosphere within two hours of the eruption, attaining an altitude of 34 km (21 miles) high and over 400 km (250 miles) wide. This eruption was the largest disturbance of the stratosphere since the eruption of Krakatau in 1883 (but ten times larger than Mount St. Helens in 1980). The aerosol cloud spread around the earth in two weeks and covered the planet within a year. During 1992 and 1993, the Ozone hole over Antarctica reached an unprecedented size.

The cloud over the earth reduced global temperatures. In 1992 and 1993, the average temperature in the Northern Hemisphere was reduced 0.5 to 0.6°C and the entire planet was cooled 0.4 to 0.5°C. The maximum reduction in global temperature occurred in August 1992 with a reduction of 0.73°C. The eruption is believed to have influenced such events as 1993 floods along the Mississippi river and the drought in the Sahel region of Africa. The United States experienced its third coldest and third wettest summer in 77 years during 1992.

Overall, the cooling effects of the Mount Pinatubo eruption were greater than those of the El Niño that was taking place at the time or of the greenhouse gas warming of the planet. Remarkable sunrises and sunsets were visible around the globe in the years following the Mount Pinatubo eruption.

excerpt: STOP

Imagine a second eruption occurring at the same time on earth... imagine dozens of eruptions occurring at the same time, over hundreds if not thousands of years... hmmm.

I do not dispute the fact that the earth has been struck by extraterrestial objects from time to time. I think that the more likely, yet less dramatic source for cataclysmic weather phenomenons are volcanic eruptions.

http://geography.about.com/od/globalproblemsandissues/a/pinatubo.htm

[count-your-change]

comets and asteroids seem to be in vogue right now, last night the earth was destroyed by the “BIG ONE!!!”(on cable t.v. at least.)

And now you ask me to, “Imagine a second eruption occurring at the same time on earth... imagine dozens of eruptions occurring at the same time, over hundreds if not thousands of years... “

I am drawing the curtains and in the darkness assuming the fetal position beside my keyboard.

[count-your-change]

This is why I think a study of history need not be a dry and boring ordeal. Fleas bring down an empire!

What might’ve had happened had Gen. Washington had the benefit of several mild winters? Or the dust bowl years not so dry? I wonder, I wonder.

[count-your-change]

You’re quite right! My brain is far away from my fingers at times. Thanks.

[AmericanVictory]

And it is difficult to see how George Bush could have caused it so it probably is not true.

[SunkenCiv]

:’)

[SunkenCiv]

Man-made, yeah, right...

[SunkenCiv]

Catastrophe: A Quest for the Origins of the Modern World by David Keys

It was a catastrophe without precedent in recorded history: for months on end, starting in A.D. 535, a strange, dusky haze robbed much of the earth of normal sunlight. Keys's narrative circles the globe as he identifies the eerie fallout from the months of darkness: unprecedented drought in Central America, a strange yellow dust drifting like snow over eastern Asia, prolonged famine, and the hideous pandemic of the bubonic plague. With a superb command of ancient literatures and historical records, Keys makes hitherto unrecognized connections between the "wasteland" that overspread the British countryside and the fall of the great pyramid-building Teotihuacan civilization in Mexico, between a little-known "Jewish empire" in Eastern Europe and the rise of the Japanese nation-state, between storms in France and pestilence in Ireland. In this fascinating, groundbreaking, totally accessible book, archaeological journalist David Keys dramatically reconstructs the global chain of revolutions that began in the catastrophe of A.D. 535, then offers a definitive explanation of how and why this cataclysm occurred on that momentous day centuries ago. -- dead link

[Little Bill]

You taked about this years ago. I have often wondered about the demographic decline in Anatola at this time.

[GOPJ]

He said King Arthur died in this period and some stories talk about long arms in the sky delivering mighty blows.

And for hundreds of years honor and cultural courage are the outcome of a comet?

[blam]

"You taked about this years ago. I have often wondered about the demographic decline in Anatola at this time."

Yes. Five or six years ago...still and interesting subject/theory too.

[blam]

"You taked about this years ago. I have often wondered about the demographic decline in Anatola at this time."

Yes. Five or six years ago...still and interesting subject/theory too.

[ThanhPhero]

So the Dark Age really was dark?

[SunkenCiv]

That’s been suggested.

-also of interest-

A Celestial Collision
Alaska Science Forum | February 10, 1983 | Larry Gedney
Posted on 09/15/2004 9:04:28 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1216757/posts

Comet or Meteorite Impact Events in 1178AD?
SIS Conference | 1-26-2003 | Emilio Spedicato
Posted on 01/03/2005 3:59:02 PM PST by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1313256/posts