Why 536 was ‘the worst year to be alive’

Science ^ | Nov. 15, 2018 | Ann Gibbons

[artichokegrower]

Ask medieval historian Michael McCormick what year was the worst to be alive, and he's got an answer: "536." Not 1349, when the Black Death wiped out half of Europe. Not 1918, when the flu killed 50 million to 100 million people, mostly young adults. But 536. In Europe, "It was the beginning of one of the worst periods to be alive, if not the worst year," says McCormick, a historian and archaeologist who chairs the Harvard University Initiative for the Science of the Human Past.

[artichokegrower]

Temperatures in the summer of 536 fell 1.5°C to 2.5°C, initiating the coldest decade in the past 2300 years. Snow fell that summer in China; crops failed; people starved. The Irish chronicles record "a failure of bread from the years 536–539."

It's not global warming but global cooling that will get you.

[moovova]

I remember it as if it were yesterday.

[fwdude]

Coming from a modern historian and archaeologist, you’d think that that was the year conservatism was at an all-time high.

[Big Red Badger]

The Callousness of some FReepers!
/s

[Fractal Trader]

ping

[jospehm20]

I read a book about this time period. It was interesting.

https://www.amazon.com/Catastrophe-Investigation-Origins-Modern-Civilization/dp/0345408764

[Big Red Badger]

1482 years ago,
Global cooling Didn’t
Make the Headlines
Because People were just
Trying to Stay Alive!

[Obadiah]

It's not global warming but global cooling that will get you.

Too soon.

[crusty old prospector]

For me, it began with the Obamao inauguration.

[Red Badger]

[moovova]

"The 72-meter-long core entombs more than 2000 years of fallout from volcanoes, Saharan dust storms, and human activities smack in the center of Europe."

Remember those long, long hand-drawn timelines a teacher would tape up on the classroom wall using poster paper and magic markers...spanning centuries of world history? A 72-meter core is the real deal!

[Michael.SF.]

Yes, things were so much better in 537 under Valdimar the Leper.

[Pearls Before Swine]

1482 years ago,
Global cooling Didn’t
Make the Headlines
Because People were just
Trying to Stay Alive!

Also, few could read, there were no printing presses; there were no newspapers; there was no mass media.

[CaptainK]

The explosion of Krakatoa in 1883 caused the same kind of global cooling. The Dems would tell us, we need to put a stop to volcanic action within the next 10 years.

Per Wikipedia:
“Average global temperatures fell by as much as 1.2 degrees Celsius (34 degrees F)in the year following the eruption. Weather patterns continued to be chaotic for years and temperatures did not return to normal until 1888.”

[SamAdams76]

Just added that book to my reading list. I love reading about the middle ages but I don’t know much about that particular period.

[struggle]

I disagree because Islam had not been invented yet.

[TADSLOS]

I remember it as if it were yesterday.

So does Brian Williams.

[Openurmind]

There is not a whole lot of history shared about that particular 100 years.

[Big Red Badger]

I put This on my List,
Thanks.

[freedomjusticeruleoflaw]

The irony of all ironies...

Many progressives (Georgia Guidestones etc) believe that the Earth can only sustain a human population that numbers in the millions, not billions. They will get there wish only if they are 100% wrong about global warming. Global cooling could indeed kill billions of people... QUICKLY.