[MR] BBC and NBC: Volcanic Eruption and the Black Death?

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

Yesterday news outlets reported on evidence that the Black Death in Europe
might have been indirectly caused by a volcanic eruption. A large volcanic
event could have released ash and sulfur compounds into the atmosphere,
reducing sunlight and causing worldwide temperature drops.

Based on tree rings, ice cores and historical accounts, researchers at
the University
of Cambridge and the Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of
Eastern Europe have determined that serious temperature drops occurred in
1345, 1346 and 1347. This led to well-documented crop failures across
Europe and in China. To stave off famine, Italian merchants imported
massive amounts of  grain from the Black Sea area. Their ships may have
brought stowaway rats and their infected fleas to western Europe.

So far researchers haven't pinpointed the offending volcano, but it must
have been a whopper of an eruption, and far away from countries where such
an eruption might have been recorded. Equal amounts of debris in arctic and
antarctic ice cores suggests the volcano might have been somewhere along
the Equator.

The NBC story mentions another interesting clue from burials in Kyrgyzstan
dated to the late 1330s. The remains show evidence of the plague, and
living marmots near the cemetery still carry a related strain of the plague
virus. [Note to self: Don't ever pet any cute groundhogs again (Yes, I
actually have).]

The BBC story is at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy5gr2x914ro .

NBC's version can be found at
https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/volcanic-eruption-plague-europe-study-rcna247222
.

Yours Aye,

Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge 🦆
Continuing a crusade to keep the original Merry Rose relevant and in
business.