Volcanic eruptions may have triggered chain reaction that unleashed Black Death
Usa today news
The Black Death decimated the medieval European population — but rats may not be entirely to blame. Volcanic eruptions that took place several years prior may have significantly contributed, with a new study revealing that a spell of unusually cold summers in the mid-1340s – likely linked to one major volcanic eruption or several smaller ones – contributed to severe famine across the Mediterranean. So, why did this lead to the Black Death? (Picture: Getty)
The researchers argue that the knock-on effects brought plague-bearing fleas into European ports, which led to the death of around 60% of the population. How did they figure this out? The experts evaluated earlier research on tree ring growth from eight regions in Europe, measurements of volcanic sulfur preserved in Antarctic and Greenland ice cores, and written reports from the fourteenth century. (Picture: Professor Ulf Büntgen)
They found that these records reveal a significant volcanic eruption somewhere in the tropics around 1345 CE. The eruption appears to have increased atmospheric sulfur and ash, which contributed to colder and wetter conditions across southern Europe and the Mediterranean. The historical accounts show widespread crop failures and famine during this period in Spain, southern France, northern and central Italy, Egypt, and the Levant. (Picture: Professor Ulf Büntgen)
This would have meant that Italian maritime powers would have had to secure grain shipments from the Black Sea region around 1347 CE. However, although these imports helped prevent mass starvation, the timing of arriving grain ships and the first plague outbreaks in cities that received them raises the question over whether fleas carrying Yersinia pestis may have traveled with the grain. And as these shipments moved to additional cities, including Padua, these fleas could have helped accelerate the spread of the Black Death throughout Europe. (Picture: Professor Ulf Büntgen)
Co-author Professor Ulf Büntgen said: ‘This is something I’ve wanted to understand for a long time. What were the drivers of the onset and transmission of the Black Death, and how unusual were they? Why did it happen at this exact time and place in European history? It’s such an interesting question, but it’s one no one can answer alone.’ (Picture: Professor Ulf Büntgen)
Co-author Dr Martin Bauch said: ‘For more than a century, these powerful Italian city-states had established long-distance trade routes across the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, allowing them to activate a highly efficient system to prevent starvation. But ultimately, these would inadvertently lead to a far bigger catastrophe. And yet, we could also demonstrate that many Italian cities, even large ones like Milan and Rome, were most probably not affected by the Black Death, apparently because they did not need to import grain after 1345. The climate-famine-grain connection has potential for explaining other plague waves.’ (Picture: Getty)
The researchers say the ‘perfect storm’ of climate, agricultural, societal and economic factors after 1345 that led to the Black Death can also be considered an early example of the consequences of globalisation. Professor Büntgen said: ‘Although the coincidence of factors that contributed to the Black Death seems rare, the probability of zoonotic diseases emerging under climate change and translating into pandemics is likely to increase in a globalised world. This is especially relevant given our recent experiences with Covid-19.’ (Picture: Getty) Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google Add as preferred source
