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Old trees reveal Late Antique Little Ice Age (LALIA) around 1,500 years ago
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/02/160208112918.htmTree-ring widths in old trees reflect the summer climate in any given year in the past. Looking at these, the researchers were particularly struck by a cold phase in the 6th century. It exhibited even lower temperatures, longer duration and larger expanse than the temperature drops in the Little Ice Age (13th to 19th centuries CE). "This was the most dramatic cooling in the Northern Hemisphere in the past 2,000 years," explains Büntgen.
Climate and culture
In light of this, the researchers refer to the period from 536 to around 660 CE for the first time as the "Late Antique Little Ice Age" (LALIA). This was triggered by three major volcanic eruptions in 536, 540 and 547 CE[1], whose climatic impact was prolonged further by the retardant effect of the oceans and a minimum in solar activity.
According to the team of naturalists, historians and linguists, this period bore witness to a whole series of social upheavals. After famine, the Justinian plague established itself between 541 and 543 CE, killing millions of people in the centuries that followed and possibly contributing to the decline of the Eastern Roman Empire.
Climate and culture
In light of this, the researchers refer to the period from 536 to around 660 CE for the first time as the "Late Antique Little Ice Age" (LALIA). This was triggered by three major volcanic eruptions in 536, 540 and 547 CE[1], whose climatic impact was prolonged further by the retardant effect of the oceans and a minimum in solar activity.
According to the team of naturalists, historians and linguists, this period bore witness to a whole series of social upheavals. After famine, the Justinian plague established itself between 541 and 543 CE, killing millions of people in the centuries that followed and possibly contributing to the decline of the Eastern Roman Empire.
