The volcanic winter that fractured empires and reshaped human history
In short: In 536 AD, the sun seemed to dim, and the world plunged into a profound, century-long cooling period. This wasn't just a bad season; it was a climatic shift that triggered societal upheaval across Eurasia, influencing the rise of migrations, the collapse of empires, and the spread of disease.
The Late Antique Little Ice Age (LALIA) refers to a period of pronounced cooling spanning from 536 to approximately 660 AD. While the cooling was sustained by complex feedbacks—including increased sea-ice and ocean ice cover—it was triggered by a series of massive volcanic eruptions. Specifically, eruptions in 536, 539/540, and possibly 547 injected massive amounts of aerosols into the atmosphere, creating a 'volcanic winter.' In Europe, summer temperatures in 536 fell by as much as 2.5°C below the 1961–1990 average, with further declines of up to 2.7°C following the 539/540 event.
The scale of these events was staggering. Atmospheric aerosol levels from the 539/540 blast are thought to have exceeded those of Mount Tambora's 1815 event, which produced the well-known 'Year Without a Summer.' Although the precise origins of these volcanoes are still contested, scholars have examined areas including Indonesia's Krakatau, Papua New Guinea's Tavurvur, and El Salvador's Ilopango. Evidence from Swiss glacier ice cores has also linked the 536 eruption to volcanic rocks from Iceland, though North America remains a possibility.
This climatic shift acted as a catalyst for profound human consequences. The cooling is associated with significant societal upheaval across Eurasia, including the decline of the Roman Empire and the second wave of migrations, particularly of the early Slavs. Furthermore, the changing climate may have influenced the epidemiological history of the plague, potentially driving the introduction and reintroduction of the disease into Europe. By combining tree-ring reconstructions from the Altai Mountains with historical evidence, scientists have mapped a period where environmental instability directly dictated the fate of civilizations.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Cooling and societal change during the Late Antique Little Ice Age from 536 to around 660 AD - Nature Geoscience
- Also: Late Antique Little Ice Age
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