Did a Volcano Set the Stage for the Black Death?

"The infamous Black Deatha pandemic that killed as many as one third to one half of Europeans within just a few yearsmay have been aided in its devastation by an unknown volcanic eruption. That's the hypothesis presented in research published December 4 in Communications Earth & Environment, which argues that the eruption triggered several seasons of climate instability and crop failures."

"That instability, in turn, forced several Italian states to import grain stores from new sourcesspecifically, from regions surrounding the Black Sea. Riding along on those grain stores, the researchers posit, were fleas infected with Yersinia pestis, the bacterium that causes the plague. Martin Bauch, a medieval and environmental historian at the Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe in Germany, studies historic famine."

An unknown volcanic eruption likely triggered several years of climate variability and severe rainfall that caused crop failures across Europe in the mid-14th century. Severe rain in northwestern Italy began in late 1345, depleting local grain stores and forcing Italian states to import grain from Black Sea regions. Imported grain likely carried fleas infected with Yersinia pestis, introducing plague to Europe. Tree-ring data and polar ice-core studies show temperature fluctuations and environmental signatures consistent with volcanic forcing prior to the Black Death. The combination of climate-driven famine and long-distance grain trade created pathways for rapid disease spread.

Read at www.scientificamerican.com