Volcanic eruption in 536 spewed so much ash that Sun didn't shine for 18 months

Harvard

Ask people around you, which was the worst year they have ever lived in, and most of them will likely say year 2020. Covid broke the world, killed millions of people, devastated the economy, wreaked havoc on our mental health, caused irreversible damage to our psyche and more. Things are still getting back on track and the world doesn't seem to be getting any better. 

However, believe it or not, Earthlings have witnessed a worse time than this. The 1918 flu pandemic killed 50 million to 100 million, yet this is not it. In 1349, the Black Death wiped out half the population of Europe, but this is still not the worst time witnessed by humans. 

Medieval historian Michael McCormick says the year 536 kickstarted the worst period to be alive. A historian and archaeologist who chairs the Harvard University Initiative for the Science of the Human Past, says, "It was the beginning of one of the worst periods to be alive, if not the worst year" in Europe. 

What happened in 536?

In this year, a mysterious fog enveloped Europe, the Middle East, and parts of Asia, all of which went dark for 18 months. It was dark throughout, irrespective of the time of day. Temperatures in the summer of 536 were recorded at 1.5°C to 2.5°C. Byzantine historian Procopius stated in History of the Wars, Books III and IV that “the sun gave forth its light without brightness, like the moon, during this whole year”.

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This triggered the beginning of the coldest decade in the past 2300 years. China witnessed snowfall in the summer. The cold killed crops and with no food, people starved. 

Scientists haven't been able to pinpoint the reason behind the clouds that shrouded most of Earth during this time. But a team led by McCormick and glaciologist Paul Mayewski at the Climate Change Institute of The University of Maine (UM) in Orono has now found it. 

The team carried out an ultraprecise analysis of ice from a Swiss glacier. At a Harvard workshop, the team reported that a cataclysmic volcanic eruption in Iceland kickstarted the fog. It spewed ash across the Northern Hemisphere early in 536.

The years 540 and 547 also saw two massive volcanic eruptions. Then the bubonic plague struck the Roman port of Pelusium, in Egypt in 541. It spread rapidly and wiped out one-third to one-half of the population of the Eastern Roman Empire, resulting in the downfall of the empire. 

This set in economic stagnation in Europe which lasted till 640.