In 535 AD, the world witnessed a devastating volcanic eruption. We now know it was equivalent to 2,000 million Hiroshimas — the most terrifying spectacle the world has ever seen.
In the second of the Catastrophe! two-parter, How the World Changed, author and archaeologist David Keys investigates the far-reaching consequences of the volcanic eruption ranging from widespread famine and plague to the emergence of new nations and religions. (Part 1: The Day the Sun Went Out uncovers the cause of this global disaster that wiped millions of people from the face of the earth.)
“The political certainties of the world were collapsing around everybody’s ears, nobody seemed sure of the future. People were saying the world’s coming to an end. It was a very, very unsettled time,” said David Keys.
Keys has discovered that the dust cloud thrown up by the eruption caused wide-scale cooling. Forensic science can now reveal that one consequence of this was the proliferation of bubonic plague in North Africa, which soon followed the trade routes throughout Europe. When plague reached Britain it decimated the Celtic population while Anglo-Saxon numbers began to swell. In this way, Keys contends, the nation of England — as we know it today — was created.
The fallout from the volcanic eruption also had devastating consequences in the Middle East. Drought and famine paved the way for a new faith. Mohammed, with his message of a better world, quickly gained a devoted following — and so Islam was born.
The effects also caused the Turks to expel the then dominant Avars who migrated thousands of miles West where they ravaged the Roman Empire, almost bringing it to its knees. Keys also proposes that China as a united entity, the first South American Empires, and Japan owe their origins to that 6th century disaster.
A new global world order was established. But a serious question for the future remains. While nothing may happen for the next hundred years, there are a handful of super volcanoes whose arrival date is long overdue.
“This is not fantasy or wild speculation,” said Keys “in the late 20th century the world is once again threatened by climate change to an extent that has not occurred since the crisis of the 6th century,” he added.