In 536 AD, much of the world was darkened for a full 18 months, a mysterious fog spread over Europe, the Middle East, and parts of Asia. During the day, this fog darkened the sun, leading to a drop in temperatures, crop failure, and the death of many people. Thus, we might consider this period a true dark age. After years of research, a probable source for this widespread fog has been identified. Researchers report that in the year 536 AD, a volcanic eruption in Iceland began to spread large amounts of ash in the northern hemisphere, creating this kind of fog. Like the eruption of Mount Tambora in 1815, considered the most catastrophic volcanic eruption ever recorded, the eruption of 536 AD can now be seen as so devastating that it altered the global climate patterns of the time, causing several years of famine.
Reflecting on this event, we can imagine what the first 18 months of this darkening were like. The Byzantine historian Procopius wrote that "the sun gave its light without brightness, like the moon, throughout the year". He also wrote that it seemed the sun was constantly in eclipse, and during this period "men were not free from war nor pestilences nor anything leading to death". Accounts like these were not taken seriously until the 1990s, says Michael McCormick, a professor of history at Harvard University and co-author of the study on antiquity. In Ireland, tree rings were examined, showing that something strange really did happen around 536 AD. The temperature dropped, and summers in Europe and Asia became about two degrees colder. In China, there was even snowfall during the summer.
This small and late“ ice age”, as it is known, occurred when volcanic ash blocked the sun. "Overnight, there was a fairly drastic change. Witnesses of that time were reporting real things. They were not hysterical nor imagining the end of the world. The accounts from the year 536 become terrifying.
"We marvel at not seeing the shadow of our bodies at noon," wrote Cassiodorus, a Roman politician. He also wrote that the sun had a "bluish" color, the moon had lost its brightness, and the "seasons seemed to mix with each other".
The effects of the 536 eruption were further exacerbated by eruptions in 540 and 547, and it took a long time before the northern hemisphere recovered from this catastrophe. "In Western Europe, this little ice age, beginning in the spring of 536, lasted until about 660, while in Central Asia it lasted until about 680," says McCormick.
"It was the beginning of one of the worst periods to live, if not the worst year in history," McCormick states in Science.
This period of famine and cold led to an economic stagnation in Europe that intensified in 541 when the first bubonic plague broke out. It is estimated that the plague killed between one-third and half of the population of the Byzantine Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire.
Throughout history, other volcanic eruptions may have occurred that were just as catastrophic and have not yet been discovered. But now, we at least know one of the reasons why in 536, people could not even see their own shadow, not even at noon.
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