A recent study suggests that volcanic eruptions from several years prior may have contributed to the devastating impact of the Black Death on medieval Europe’s population.
The researchers discovered that a period of abnormally cold summers in the mid-1340s, potentially linked to one significant volcanic eruption or several smaller ones, led to severe famines throughout the Mediterranean.
They argue that this chain reaction ultimately caused disease-carrying fleas to arrive at European ports, resulting in mortality rates of up to 60 percent.
“This is something I’ve wanted to understand for a long time,” stated Professor Wolf Bungen, a paleoclimatologist from the Department of Geography at the University of Cambridge. “What were the origins and transmission factors of the Black Death, and how extraordinary were they?”
“Why did this event occur in this specific region, at this precise moment in European history? That is a fascinating question, yet one that requires collective insights to answer.”
Bungen noted that BBC Science Focus has provided clues through tree rings and ice cores—ancient ice layers that have preserved chemicals from historic volcanic eruptions—indicating that volcanic activity contributed to the extreme climatic conditions.
“If a particular year experiences unusual cold, heat, dryness, or wetness, we aim to uncover the reasons behind it,” Bungen remarked to BBC Science Focus.
“Volcanoes emit substantial amounts of sulfur into the upper atmosphere, prompting collaborations with ice core experts to gain insights on past eruptions.
“This can lead to subsequent cold summers, a phenomenon known as post-eruption cooling.”
It was left to climate historian Dr. Martin Bauch from the Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe in Germany to correlate this climate data with historical events.
He found that the harsh cold resulted in significant famine across the Mediterranean, and the responses of the Italian republics of Venice, Genoa, and Pisa eventually facilitated the plague’s arrival in Europe.
“For over a century, these influential Italian city-states established extensive trade networks throughout the Mediterranean and Black Seas, employing an effective system to stave off starvation,” Bauch explained. “However, this ultimately contributed to even greater disasters.”
The fleas carrying the plague bacterium Y. pestis likely reached Mediterranean ports aboard these grain ships, transferring to rats, cats, and humans, and quickly propagating the disease across Europe, decimating its population.
The study concluded that volcanic activity initiated a sequence of events culminating in the plague throughout medieval Europe.
Bungen noted that this narrative continues to resonate in today’s world, over seven centuries later.
“While the coincidental convergence of factors leading to the Black Death may be rare, the probability of zoonotic disease outbreaks and pandemics amidst climate change is likely to escalate in our interconnected world,” he explained.
“This is particularly crucial in light of our recent experiences with COVID-19.”
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Source: www.sciencefocus.com
