(CNN) —
It’s easy to look back on the past through rose-tinted glasses, as the saying goes, but new research suggests that the mid-sixth century was definitely a time to forget.
A team of historians and scientists has identified A.D. 536 as the beginning of a terrible sequence of events for humankind.
A massive volcanic eruption spewed a huge cloud of ash that shrouded the Northern Hemisphere in darkness and caused a drop in temperatures that led to crop failure and starvation, said co-lead study author Professor Christopher Loveluck of the University of Nottingham in the UK.
Then the misery was compounded in A.D. 542 as cold and hungry populations in the eastern Roman Empire were struck by the bubonic plague.
Now, in collaboration with glaciologist Paul Mayewski at the Climate Change Institute of the University of Maine in Orono, Loveluck’s team has identified the source of the cloud.
By analyzing ice samples from the Colle Gnifetti Glacier in the Swiss Alps, the researchers were able to identify atmospheric pollutants deposited over the past 2,000 years, according to the study, published last week in the journal Antiquity.
Substances found in the ice provide evidence that the eruption took place in Iceland, not California, as suggested by previous research.
Why losing weight might protect you from Covid-19
PHOTO:
DENIS CHARLET/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
A selection of fruit ready to eat are displayed at a fruit and vegetable shop on April 12, 2016 in Lille, northern France. / AFP / DENIS CHARLET (Photo credit should read DENIS CHARLET/AFP/Getty Images)
Now playing
New diet can save lives and the planet, study says
PHOTO:
CNN
this is your brain on pain health orig_00001025.jpg
Now playing
This is your brain on pain
Here's why you can't stop eating pizza, ice cream and chocolate chip cookies
Trouble sleeping? This may be why
The reality of wine's health benefits
These foods aren't as healthy as you think
PHOTO:
Shutterstock
Americans are still too fat according to a new study from JAMA. Two in three of Americans are registering as overweight or obese.
Now playing
PHOTO:
Bruno Vincent/Getty Images Europe/Getty Images
LONDON - MAY 16: In this photo illustration a cigarette is seen burning on May 16, 2007 in London. Businesses and shops are gearing up for the introduction of the smoking ban on July 1 in England after similar bans have been introduced in Ireland, Scotland and Wales. (Photo Illustration by Bruno Vincent/Getty Images)
Now playing
What tobacco does to your health (2017)
PHOTO:
Photo Illustration/Thinkstock
Now playing
World blood pressure rises (2016)
PHOTO:
Getty Images/File
Woman pointing to area on mammogram x-ray, close-up
Now playing
Breast cancer: Know the facts
PHOTO:
JEFF PACHOUD/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
A surgeon sitting in front of screens of a Focal One device performs a robot-assisted prostate tumorectomy using ultrasound imaging on April 10, 2014 at the Edouard Herriot hospital in Lyon, center France. Focal One is the first robotic HIFU (high intensity focused ultrasound) device dedicated to the focal approach for prostate cancer therapy. According to EDAP TMS SA, a leader in therapeutic ultrasound, it combines the three essential components to efficiently perform a focal treatment: state-of-the-art imaging to localized tumors with the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) combined with real-time ultrasound, utmost precision of robotic HIFU treatment focused only on identified targeted cancer areas, and immediate feedback on treatment efficacy utilizing Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound Imaging. AFP PHOTO / JEFF PACHOUD (Photo credit should read JEFF PACHOUD/AFP/Getty Images)
Now playing
What is Parkinson's disease?
How Alzheimer's destroys the brain
The eruption and the 542 plague outbreak caused economic stagnation in Europe, which lasted more than 30 years until 575, when there were early signs of recovery, Loveluck said.
