[Virginia Ridgerunner]

Ah, while the western Roman Empire indeed collapsed because of its own internal decay and due to unrelenting pressure from external barbarian populations, there is evidence to suggest that volcanic activity at Krakatoa helped it along...

Were the Dark Ages Triggered by Volcano-Related Climate Changes in the 6th Century?

[PIF]

According to those who keep track of these eruptions, the 5th century (416 AD) Karkatoa eruption VEI is unknown but certainly not very large - perhaps the equilivant of St Helens at best. These was no signifigant eruption again until 1883 AD.

see here:
http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=0602-00=&volpage=erupt&format=expanded#E1883520

The guy you reference may be right and si.edu may not have updated. But, he seems alone in his opinion. So I’m not going with ‘could have’, ‘perhaps’, ‘global climate modelers’, ‘tree ring data’, and ‘hypothetical’.

These are the documented eruptions during a 90 year period when the “Dark Ages” could have been effected by volcanism:

450 A.D. – Ilopango (El Salvador) Erupts
Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) = 6

540 A.D. – Rabaul, Papua (New Guinea) Erupts
300 million tons of aerosols.
Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) = 6

Each of these is 10X greater than St Helens.

[blam]

The Dark Ages: Were They Darker Than We Imagined?

[blam]

The Dark Ages: Were They Darker Than We Imagined?