The Weekly Anthropocene: The Climate Crisis of 536 CE
A Deep Dive into the Wild, Weird World of Humanity and its Biosphere: discussing a historical climate crisis and how it compares to the one we face today
In the year 536 CE, a massive volcanic eruption occurred, probably in Iceland1. Vast quantities of volcanic ash were forced through the atmosphere, and the weather appears to have been just right to keep it circulating for 18 months as an aerosol-rich fog blocking sunlight. Average temperatures on the Earth of 536 then cooled by around 1.5 to 2.5 degrees Celsius (right about the range of warming we’re concerned about happening this century due to climate change!), kicking off the coldest decade in over 2300 years. This in turn spurred widespread famines; medieval historian Michael McCormick calls 536 “the worst year to be alive.”
The events of 536 and the following years are little known today, but they had incredibly profound effects on human civilization around the world:
Procopius, a famed historian and advisor to Emperor Justinian I in what is now call…
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