In Russia, as well as in Southern Europe, little remained in the annals for the years 1707-1711: rains, drought and frost before the Battle of Poltava. This is fine. It was necessary to keep up with the advanced, already super-ancient historical science, and there was no other way to equalize in honor, except to add years to yourself. And, it is clear that in the chronicles of Russia there is evidence showing what really happened - the events of 1601-1604, unprecedented in terms of catastrophic power. Here are the relevant entries.
1601-1604 years. CATACLYSM #99 (detail)
1601. A comet of unusual brightness, three suns stood in the sky of Russia.
1601. The eruption of the Huinaputina volcano.
1601. In the spring the sky was overshadowed by thick darkness, and the whole year, and also the next year until July 27, due to high-altitude smoke, the sun and moon were reddish, pale and without brilliance.
1601. Karamzin: it rained for ten weeks incessantly so that the villagers were horrified: they could not do anything, neither mow nor reap.
1601. Frost struck on July 28 in Moscow, and on August 31 in Pskov.
1601 August 15. The Moskva River froze over, the Black Sea to Constantinople went on a sleigh. On September 1st it snowed. On October 10, the Dnieper froze like winter.
1601. The price of bread has increased 100 times. In the next two years, "a third of the kingdom of Moscow" died out.
1601. Konrad Bussov: severe crop failures, famine, plague. This went on for three years. Do not count how many children were killed, slaughtered, boiled by parents, parents by children, guests by hosts and, conversely, hosts by guests.
1602. In the summer frost hit again and ruined the crops. Summer snowfalls.
1602. In the first half of the year, rye prices jumped 6 times.
1602-1603 The Moscow region is covered by "tatbs" and "robbery".
1603. In Moscow alone, 120,000 people died of starvation.
1603. Compared with 1601, the price of bread jumped 18 times.
1603. Plague epidemic in Kyiv
1604. Konrad Bussov: “The next Sunday after Trinity, on a clear noon, above the Moscow Kremlin, very close to the sun, a bright and dazzlingly sparkling big star appeared.” It is believed that Bussov described the comet.
1604. Konrad Bussow: “At night, a formidable sparkle appeared in the sky, as if one army was fighting with another, and from it it became so light and clear, as if the moon had risen ... Many times unprecedented storms rose during the day, which demolished the towers of the city gates and crosses from many churches ... Many strange freaks were born among people and cattle.
1604. Konrad Bussov: “There were no fish in the water, birds in the air, game in the forest; and what was cooked and served on the table did not have its former taste, although it was well cooked.
1604. Rainy summer. “In Moscow, in the middle of the summer, great snow fell and it was frosty, they rode in sledges.”
The “climatic play” is played out here in its entirety: a comet, an eruption, darkness from the ashes, hurricanes, rains, frosts, famine, plague, but this hypercatastrophe was not noticed in the world. In France, the grape harvest was late, in Germany the vineyards were beaten with frost, and in China the peach blossomed too late. No comets, no three suns, no darkness in the sky for a year, no rain for 10 weeks, and, most importantly, no (!) chemical data on ice cores indicating the presence of an excess of aerosols in the atmosphere during this period. Cores show that the years 1601-1605 are VERY even, prosperous years.
The key to the phenomenon lies in the ideal identity of the Russian events of the early 17th and early 18th centuries. Oddly enough, but key events the eras of Godunov and Peter are one and the same. I didn't believe my eyes.
Godunov is building a fleet, and Peter is building a fleet.
Godunov shaves his beards, and Peter shaves his beards
Godunov sends young men to study in the West, and Peter - there too.
Godunov introduces recruiting, and Peter.
And so on without end: 19 significant acts over the course of 28 years are synchronously duplicated with a beautiful margin of 108 years. Moreover, 28 years (lunar cycle) is the standard reference point of the chroniclers, and the number 108 is sacred. In algebra, it is the hyperfactorial of 3. In geometry, it is the interior angle of a regular pentagon in degrees. In Egypt, this is the one and a half number of Osiris. And among the Buddhists, who fell under the strongest influence of the ideas of the Jesuits, almost everything consists of 108: the number of beads in the rosary, and the number of volumes of the collection of sayings of the Buddha, and the number of passions, and the number of prostrations of repentance. In Hinduism, 108 is the total number of gopis in Vrindavan.
There can be three main versions of why this happened:
1. Boris and Peter are contemporaries.
2. The history of Peter is entirely written off from the history of Godunov.
3. The stories of both dynasties were created by one team according to the same templates.
Yes, the correlation of any pair of lines can be considered random and even far-fetched. The main problem is their combination; the probability of correlations of the entire set of pairs of events is astronomically small. We can say that there are 19 jackpots in a row.
1585. The seaport of Arkhangelsk was founded
1695. Beginning of the Russian fleet
Difference 110 years
1587. After the death of Ivan IV, Boris Godunov manages himself
1696. After the death of co-ruler Ivan V, Peter I governs himself
Difference 109 years
1595. Return of Koporye, Ivangorod and Korela. Sweden admitted defeat
1703. 05. After the capture of the Nyenschanz fortress, the Russians completely control the Neva.
Difference 108 years
1595. Campaign of Muscovy against Kuchum
1704. The uprising of the Ural Bashkirs
Difference 109 years
1600. The rebellion of the boyars of the Romanovs and Cherkassy
1707. Rebellion on the Don - Ataman K. A. Bulavin
Difference 108 years
1600. King Sigismund III thought to attack Muscovy, but he was forced into peace
1708. Mazepa thought to attack Muscovy in alliance with the Swedes, but Peter I beat him
Difference 108 years
1601. Rivers froze in August, sleigh rides along the Black Sea to Constantinople
1709. Spain's rivers freeze. Under the ice of the Adriatic Sea near Venice.
Difference 108 years
1601. Decree on the peasant exit
1707. Decree on runaway peasants
Difference 106 years
1601. Colossal eruption of Uinaputina
1707. Colossal eruptions of Santorini and Fuji
Difference 106 years
1602. in the first half of the year, rye prices jumped 6 times
1710. Severe famine due to crop failures in France. Drought in Ukraine. Locust.
Difference 108 years
1603. In comparison with 1601, the price of bread jumped 18 times.
1711. Russia suffered from "waterlessness" and the invasion of pests. Locust.
Difference 108 years
1603. Famine. It was believed that in 1601-1603. "a third of the kingdom of Moscow" died out.
1711. Famine and epidemic in Russia continue
Difference 108 years
1603. A young man called himself Tsarevich Dmitry and claims power
1711. The marriage of Tsarevich Alexei to Sophia Charlotte of Wolfenbüttel means a claim to power over Sophia's hereditary inheritance.
Difference 108 years
1603. An army is formed in Zaporozhye, which will later take part in the Moscow campaign of the impostor
1711. In Zaporozhye, Peter I made the Prut campaign, but could not defeat the enemy
Difference 108 years
1605. False Dmitry entered Moscow.
1713. The Romanovs left Moscow and moved the capital to St. Petersburg
Difference 107 years
1610. Shuisky was tonsured a monk.
1718. Tsarevich Alexei imprisoned
Difference 108 years
1610. False Tsarevich Dmitry II killed
1718. Tsarevich Alexei dies in prison
Difference 108 years
1613. War of Russia with Sweden.
1720. Battle of Russia and Sweden at Grengam
Difference 107 years
1613. Founded the 1st dynasty of Russian tsars - the Romanovs
1721. Founded the 1st dynasty of Russian emperors - the Romanovs
Difference 108 years
In this case, historical truth is not very important. The main damage is a climate shift of unprecedented significance. Well, there are no signs of cooling in the cores of 1601-1604, and there shouldn't be any. Well, Kepler's "Supernova" is now in great doubt ... Konrad Bussov described a completely different object. Given the scale of the costs of astronomy, seismology, volcanology, climatology, and so on., And so on. - right up to space, the old historical forgeries have cost humanity hundreds and hundreds of billions. Because 99% of the original chronicle "pointers" were selfishly rearranged, and all this time they led the wrong way. They do not lead there even now, and in order to understand everything, let's go back a little - to the era of the first fall of the Lighthouse of Alexandria.
The original address of the article.
May hurricanes and June snows make us talk about the weather more than ever. Although the climate in Russia is intended, first of all, to destroy the enemy, but this year it goes beyond all limits, moreover, in peacetime.
But it would still be half the trouble if the June frosts did not cause an alarming feeling of deja vu in everyone who knows Russian history well. It was with such summer frosts in 1601 that the terrible Russian Troubles began, which lasted more than a decade and brought innumerable disasters to the Russian people and state.
“The frost in the middle of summer and even a crop failure by themselves cannot push society into a social catastrophe”
Throughout the summer of 1601 there were torrential rains that destroyed the harvest, and then in July " great scum came and every living thing and every vegetable shivered and be great”, the Moscow River was covered with ice. In August it rained again, and in September it snowed and “ all the labor of human deeds perished, and in the fields and in the gardens and in the oak forests, every fruit of the earth».
A terrible three-year famine began, the poor ate cats, dogs, mice. "Linden leaf, birch bark, wormwood and quinoa - peasant food" - spoke among the people. Soon, a terrible epidemic of cholera was added to the famine, and, in aggregate, they claimed 120 thousand lives in Moscow alone, and in total " a third of the kingdom of Moscow died out».
Since 1603, the famine has declined, but the situation has repeatedly developed when “ in Moscow in the middle of the summer, great snow fell and it was frosty, they rode in sledges.
The French mercenary in the Russian service, Jacques Margeret, painted such a horrifying picture in his notes about the years of service in Muscovy:
“In 1601, that great famine began, which lasted three years; a measure of grain, which used to be sold for fifteen soles, was sold for three rubles, which is almost twenty livres.
During these three years, things were done so monstrous that they look incredible, for it was quite common to see how the husband left his wife and children, the wife killed the husband, the mother killed the children in order to eat them.
I also witnessed how four women who lived in the neighborhood, left by their husbands, agreed that one would go to the market to buy a cart of firewood, having done this, she would promise the peasant to pay in the house; but when, having unloaded the firewood, he entered the hut to receive payment, he was strangled by these women and put where he could remain in the cold, waiting until his horse was eaten by them first; when it was opened, they confessed to the deed and that the body of this peasant was the third.
In a word, it was such a great famine that, apart from those who died in other cities of Russia, more than one hundred and twenty thousand people died of starvation in the city of Moscow; they were buried in three places designated for this outside the city, which was taken care of by order and at the expense of the emperor, even shrouds for burial ...
This famine significantly reduced the strength of Russia and the income of the emperor.
However, there was nothing extraordinary for the then life of Europe and the world in these events.
Ruled over mankind, in the expression French historian Fernand Braudel, "biological old order". Agricultural yields were too low, people's dependence on nature was too high, and sanitary conditions were appalling. As a result, climate change - cooling and rising humidity - created an initial background of instability, which was intensified by wars, rebellions and epidemics that mowed down entire regions.
The climatic situation of the 14th-18th centuries in Europe is designated by scientists as the "Little Ice Age" (a particularly strong climatic turn occurred just at the end of the 16th - beginning of the 17th centuries).
The decrease in temperature reached the point that in winter the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, connecting the Black Sea with the Mediterranean, froze. It was because of the advance of ice in the Atlantic that America, once discovered by the Vikings, “closed”. Famines and epidemics in this era are a ubiquitous phenomenon.
Not understanding the nature of long-term climate fluctuations, people blamed other people for crop failures, at the turn of the 16th-17th centuries the peak of the "witch hunt" falls. And one of the reactions to the terrible crop failures that hit Central Europe primarily was Thirty Years' War(1618-1648), which lasted much longer than the Time of Troubles in Russia, and turned Germany into ruins.
However, was it really only severe bad weather that was to blame for the social catastrophe and collapse of society?
It is permissible to doubt this. The study by S. I. Barash "History of crop failures and bad weather in Europe" presents the climatic chronicle of the West and East of Europe for almost two millennia, up to 1600.
The data of this study do not give any reason to consider the cold of 1601 as the final blow of a long cycle of frosts and bad weather, comparable to the "Little Ice Age". If in Western Europe the entire second half of the 16th century is indeed an alternation of extremely harsh winters and rainy cold summers, the East of Europe is characterized by the alternation of “glacial” years (1562-1568) and periods when the enemy of the peasant was not frost and rain, but drought (1582-1598). Moreover, the year 1599 was an exceptionally fruitful year, although it was replaced by a cold, wet and unstable year of 1600.
But in itself such a short series of bad years could not, of course, lead to such a massive catastrophe. It was not the climate that mattered, but the social crisis in Russia in the second half of the 16th century, which S. A. Nefedov drew attention to in his History of Russia.
The components of this crisis were the unsuccessful Livonian War, the devastating Crimean Tatar invasion of 1571 and the burning of Moscow, the actual Civil War, into which the measures of the Oprichnina poured out - and the significant increase in taxes associated with these wars, which caused a general flight of peasants from the landowners' lands (some of the peasants were taken to the estates of the guardsmen, some went to the monastery lands).
This, in turn, prompted government measures to enslave those who did not escape and a sharp increase in economic pressure on them from the ruling classes.
Nefedov suggests that in 1567-1572 Russia was covered by an eco-social catastrophe - famine, pestilence, invasions, unrest, scattering of the population. It was the consequences of this catastrophe that came back to haunt us at the beginning of the 17th century.
Let me suggest that all these catastrophic factors were superimposed by one more - Russia, paradoxically, paid for its great achievements.
The conquest of Kazan and Astrakhan, the arrangement of the notch lines along the borders of the Steppe, led to the expansion of the habitat of the Russian people and tore away a significant number of the population from their places, who arbitrarily moved to the newly acquired Volga outskirts and the border of the Wild Field.
The settlers stopped working the land at the old address, so that in the Moscow district only 7% of the landlords' arable land was cultivated, in Kolomenskoye 25%. And at the new address, they were not yet included in the tax system, did not work for the landlords, but in a significant number replenished the composition of the Cossacks and other categories of free people.
Taking their feet off the inflated taxes, the peasants weakened the noble militia, which in the 15th-16th centuries was the main support of the government, thereby preparing the relative military weakness of the government center during the Time of Troubles.
Boris Godunov's attempt to cope with the economic and managerial crisis led to disaster. Tsar Boris not only abolished the right of the peasants to leave the landowners, but actually abandoned the clear fixation of peasant duties, giving the landowners the right to increase them at their own discretion. Of course, this further increased the hardships of the peasants, for whom there was only a choice between extreme poverty and flight.
By itself, the cold of 1601 would not have caused a general catastrophe, but in combination with poverty, lack of supplies and the weakening of the armed forces of the nobility, it unwound the mechanism of social anomie to the fullest.
The crop failure was not universal. There was bread in the country. But rich and powerful people decided to take advantage of the famine in order to replenish their chests with money. " Speaking among themselves, for their own selfishness, although they became rich at the price of grain, they shut up all the bread and hid it, and for their profits they raised a great price in bread”, says Boris Godunov’s letter to the authorities of Salt Vychegodskaya.
Enraged by the speculation, the king says: We, the great sovereign tsar and Grand Duke Boris Feodorovich of all Russia, autocrat ... with God's help and the most pure Mother of God, our peasant hopes of mercy and intercession, managing and maintaining their state lands to all people for peace and quiet, and benefits, and looking for you all, all the people useful to people ... ordered in our reigning the city of Moscow ... and in all the cities of our royal maintenance, grain buyers ... search ... and see through firmly ... so that bread does not rise in price from those buyers and not from any people alone.
The tsar orders to open state bins, set fixed grain prices for governors and persecute speculators, allows peasants to move from landowner to landowner (in fact, restores St. George's Day - however, this measure was canceled due to the protest of the nobles), orders " warm the poor and give bread to each other". But…
God sent gladness to our land,
The people howled, dying in agony;
I opened granaries for them, I am gold
I scattered them, I found work for them -
They cursed me madly!
And it cannot be said that these curses were completely groundless. The ill-conceived social policy of Boris, instead of alleviating the suffering of the people, only aggravated them, which Margeret ruthlessly notes:
« The reason is so a large number of those who died in the city of Moscow lies in the fact that Emperor Boris ordered daily alms to be distributed to all the poor, how many of them there would be, each one Muscovite, that is, about seven Tourist deniers, so that, having heard about the generosity of the emperor, everyone fled there, although some of them still had something to live on; and when they arrived in Moscow, they could not live on the said seven deniers, although on major holidays and on Sundays they received dening, that is, doubly, and, falling into even greater weakness, they died in the said city or on the roads, returning back.
In the end, Boris, having learned that everyone was fleeing to Moscow to die in Moscow, and that the country was gradually beginning to depopulate, ordered that nothing more be given to them; from that time they began to find them dead and half-dead on the roads from the cold and hunger they had endured, which was an extraordinary sight.
The amount that Emperor Boris spent on the poor is incredible; apart from the expenses that he incurred in Moscow, there was not a city throughout Russia where he did not send more or less to feed the aforementioned beggars. I know that he sent twenty thousand rubles to Smolensk with one of my acquaintances. His good feature was that he usually generously distributed alms and gave a lot of wealth to the clergy, who in turn were all for him.
The popular reaction to the famine was sabotage, denial of obedience, and outright riots. One of the Tatar princes, who received a village in the Kashinsky district for their service, complained: “ the peasants of that village do not listen to him and do not carry supplies to him to Moscow, and they do not give a cart, and they do not pay dues, and they plow little arable land of their own free will».
However, a more terrible phenomenon than the peasant protest was the mass movement of robbers, primarily starving boyar serfs, taught military affairs.
The robbers blocked all roads to Moscow, effectively blocking the delivery of bread, which, in the first place, led to the death of 120 thousand Muscovites. And in the fall of 1603, a large gang of Khlopok approached the capital itself - they managed to defeat it only after a real battle, in which the voivode Ivan Basmanov died (Soviet historians often extolled this gang as a "popular uprising", forgetting that its robberies hit, first of all, by the people).
Finally, the most massive reaction to the famine was, as usual in this period of Russian history, the departure of people from their homes, an attempt to move to where it was "warm and apples."
Hastily sold the house and things to the neighbors and set off on their way to the southwest, - to Chernihiv and in the border area with the Commonwealth. And the Cossacks were already living there, dissatisfied with the attempts of Boris Godunov to restrict their freedoms. In addition, Godunov, in order to somehow appease the servile robberies, ordered all the serfs, whom the gentlemen do not want to feed, to be released. Those turned into free people and also moved to the South-West.
The southern borderland of Russia and Poland turned into a powder keg, where fugitive, free, remnants of defeated robbers accumulated. It was only necessary to strike a spark in order for this combustible material to ignite.
The famine ended in 1604, life began to improve, but then False Dmitry appeared in the southwestern lands and the Time of Troubles broke out, putting Russia on the brink of death.
At the initial moment of the Troubles of the 17th century, we see all the elements of social anomie.
The rich try to use hunger to their advantage, bleed the grain market and start speculation. Peasants refuse to sow arable land beyond what they need for food, and then go on the run altogether. The masters refuse to feed the serfs, the serfs begin to rob, intercept the carts with bread, and thereby doom those who are waiting for this bread to starvation.
Boris Godunov, who made great, but unsuccessful efforts to stop the growth of anomie, in fact, gives up - first he allows the peasants to leave the masters, weakening social ties, then again forbids - even more embittering the people. Dissolves hungry serfs, which only adds fuel to the fire. Finally, the tsar himself, who was both in the political and mystical sense the central figure of the social order of Russia, morally and psychologically breaks down - he stops leaving the palace, accepting complaints and petitions, and when petitioners turn to him, they are dispersed with sticks.
Instead of the former generosity and attempts to cope with hunger, Boris shows stinginess, personally checks every evening whether the pantries are well locked. His mind begins to be entangled with fears, knowing for sure that Tsarevich Dimitri, whom the Pretender claims to be, is dead, yet he begins to doubt it. Already prone to superstition, Boris begins to spend most of his time with healers, warlocks and witches, trying to find out the future and somehow deceive fate, because he is sure that for him "there is no bliss in the future life." The personal and historical drama of Godunov is, among other things, a drama of self-destruction.
There were, of course, opposite examples, of those who, by selflessness and piety, saved human lives and preserved the integrity of the social fabric, like the landowner Juliana Osorina, glorified as St. Righteous Juliana Lazarevskaya. Her biography, compiled by her son Callistratus, is one of the most penetrating texts in old Russian literature, giving a vivid picture of the struggle of a person striving to live according to the law of God with hunger.
“At the same time, there was a severe famine throughout the Russian Land - such that many from need ate nasty animals and human flesh, and an innumerable multitude of people died of hunger. And in the house of the blessed one, there was an extremely severe impoverishment of food and all sorts of supplies, for all her life did not germinate from the earth. Her horses and cattle perished.
She begged her children and servants not to encroach on anything that was not theirs and not to indulge in theft, but what kind of cattle, clothes, and utensils remained, she sold everything for bread and thus fed her servants and gave sufficient alms to those who asked. Even in her poverty, she did not leave the custom of giving alms, and she did not let a single beggar from those who came empty-handed go on the road.
When she reached extreme poverty, so that not a single grain was left in her house, but even then she was not embarrassed, but placed all her hope in God ...
And still greater poverty multiplied in her house. Then she called her servants and said to them: “This smoothness surrounds us, you see for yourself. So if any of you wants to stay with me, be patient, and whoever cannot, let him step into his freedom and not exhaust himself for my sake. Some, having judged kindly, promised to endure with her, while others left. She, with thanksgiving and prayer, let them go, having no anger against them at all.
And she ordered the remaining servants to gather grass called quinoa and tree bark and make bread from it. And so she herself ate and fed her children and servants. And her bread was sweet with prayer. And no one in her house was exhausted from hunger. She fed the poor with that bread and, without feeding, the beggar did not let go of the house. And at that time there were no beggars.
And her neighbors said to them: “Why do you enter Julian’s house? She is dying herself." And the beggars answered them: “They went around many villages and accepted clean bread, but they didn’t eat their sweetness, as this widow’s bread is sweet.” Many didn't even know her name. Her neighbors, rich in bread, sent to her house to ask for bread, testing them, and also testified how her bread is very sweet. And they were amazed at this, saying among themselves: “Her servants are much more baked bread.” But they did not understand that prayer makes her bread sweet.
She could have prayed to God that her house would not become impoverished, but she did not resist the providence of God, enduring gratefully, knowing that through patience the Kingdom of Heaven is gained. Having endured in such poverty for two years, she did not grieve, was not embarrassed, did not grumble and did not sin with her lips in madness against God, and did not become exhausted from poverty, but was more cheerful than before.
It is characteristic that this feat of Juliana Osorina was accomplished in the Nizhny Novgorod land, that is, exactly where, in subsequent years, social forces would emerge that would crush the turmoil.
And this, of course, is not accidental either - if the Russian center and north were impoverished under the influence of the crisis and the scattering of the population, the southwest turned into combustible material, then the Volga region, on the contrary, grew demographically and strengthened economically.
The effect of expanding Russian borders and resettlement gradually strengthened, and, as a result, the people from the Volga had enough strength and means to gather a militia and heal the Russian state tormented by the Time of Troubles.
What conclusion can be drawn from this story of cold and hunger?
Let's hope it's optimistic. On their own, frost in the middle of summer and even crop failure cannot push society into a social catastrophe. It took a long summation of adverse social and economic factors to deal a truly crushing blow to society.
In conditions of real stability and seemingly resuming economic growth, the social fabric is strong enough to withstand "hypothermia".
Although this may affect the social psychology of the inhabitants of the capitals that have fallen into the cold season, and, in fact, not in the best way. People are exhausted and tired, and since the weather does not allow for human rest, this will begin to lead to psychological breakdowns. Not so much now, however, as in the winter-spring of next year. And we should be prepared for this heightened social nervousness.
As for the harvest, the “post-sanctions” agrarian boom creates additional strength for our country in the field of food security. Now it seems clear to everyone how reasonable the introduction of counter-sanctions was, which led to a real food renaissance in Russia and freed us from dependence on food imports.
However, in order to be truly stable, the old Russia systematically fought for the Wild Field throughout the 17th-18th centuries, gradually turning it into Novorossia. Russia needed and still needs areas where farming is at least a little less risky. The fact that these achievements were lost at the turn of the 20th-21st centuries is a non-illusory geopolitical catastrophe for our country.
The Little Ice Age became a time of trials for Europe and Russia. He showed that even a slight change in temperature can lead to irreversible consequences and radically change life.Why did he come?
Scientists are still arguing about the causes of the Little Ice Age. At one time it was believed that the Gulf Stream, the main "heat supplier" to Europe, was to blame for everything. The slowing down of the current really became one of the reasons for the cooling, but only one of them.
According to a 1976 study published by John Eddy, there was reduced solar activity during the Little Ice Age. Scientists (in particular, Thomas Crowley) also associate a sharp cooling that began in the 14th century with, on the contrary, increased activity of volcanoes. Massive eruptions release aerosols into the atmosphere that scatter sunlight. This can lead to global dimming and cooling.
An important factor that turned the Little Ice Age into a cataclysm of global significance was the fact that the processes that began with its onset (a decrease in agricultural activity, an increase in forest area) led to the fact that carbon dioxide contained in the atmosphere began to be absorbed by the biosphere. This process also contributed to the decrease in temperature. If you speak at all in simple terms The more forest, the colder.
Consequences on a European scale
The most global changes the Little Ice Age brought to the life of Europe. From 1315 to 1317, almost a quarter of the population died out due to the Great Famine in Europe. Between 1371 and 1791, there were 111 famine years in France alone.
The Little Ice Age changed the European market. England and Scotland could no longer compete with France in the wine market. Viticulture in northern Germany, England and Scotland ceased. Frosts even affected northern Italy, as both Dante and Petrarch wrote about.
The Little Ice Age also became the harbinger of the plague, which in Europe was dubbed the "Black Death". This was due to the mass migration of rats, which, for the sake of survival, began to settle closer to people.
Hunger
Territory modern Russia also seriously affected by abrupt climate change, although the Little Ice Age affected the Russian lands a little later than Europe. The most difficult time was the 16th century.
Over the course of one century, grain prices in Russia have risen about eight times - from three to four kopecks per quarter of rye to 27-29 kopecks.
The years 1548-1550, 1555-1556, 1558, 1560-1561 were difficult for Russia, catastrophic and 1570-71. The long period of 1587-1591 was difficult. Tellingly, these same years are marked as the stages of the economic crisis in Russia in the 16th century, which caused the greatest demographic losses.
The consequences of the Little Ice Age are reflected in the annals. 1549 - "bread was expensive on the Dvina ... and many people died of hunger, 200 and 300 people were put in one pit." 1556 - Kholmogory “bread did not reach, in autumn they bought a quarter on the Dvina for 22 altyns”, “for 2 years there was a famine in Ustyuz, they ate fir and grass, and bitch. And a lot of people died." 1560/61 - “there was a great famine in Mozhaisk and on Voloka and in others in many cities. Many people have scattered from Mozhaisk and Volok to Ryazan and Meshchera and lower cities to Nizhny Novgorod.
Historians note that unfavorable changes began to come from the north. In the years 1500-1550, the population in the North-West decreased by 12-17%, in the 1550s Novgorod Land suffered greatly. In the first half of the 1560s, desolation covered the western counties (Mozhaisk, Volokolamsk). By the 1570s, the crisis covers the central and eastern regions.
The decline in population according to payment records in the 1570-80s was 76.7% around Novgorod, and 57.4% around Moscow. The figures of desolation in only two years of catastrophic years reached 96% in Kolomna, 83% in Murom, in many places up to 80% of the land was abandoned.
Plague
The strongest crop failure in 1570 was described by the foreign oprichnik Heinrich Staden: “There was then a great famine; for a piece of bread, a man killed a man. And the Grand Duke had many thousands of stacks of unthreshed bread in sheaves in the yards in his basement villages, which supplied the maintenance to the palace. But he did not want to sell it to his subjects, and many thousands of people died of starvation in the country, and dogs devoured it.
Following a crop failure, in 1571 an epidemic of plague followed. The same Staden wrote: “In addition, the almighty God sent another great pestilence. The house or yard, where the plague looked, was immediately boarded up, and anyone who died in it was buried in it; many starved to death in their own homes or yards. And all the cities in the state, all the monasteries, towns and villages, all the country roads and high roads were occupied by outposts, so that none could pass to the other.
The plague intensified, and therefore large pits were dug in the field around Moscow, and the corpses were dumped there without coffins, 200, 300, 400, 500 pieces in one heap. In the Muscovite state, special churches were built along the main roads; they daily prayed that the Lord would have mercy and avert the plague from them.
Migration of the population and the growth of the Cossacks
In 1588, the English scientist Giles Fletcher visited Russia. In his book Passing through Muscovy, he wrote: “Thus, on the road to Moscow, between Vologda and Yaroslavl, there are at least fifty villages, some half a mile long, others a whole mile long, completely abandoned, so that they do not have not a single resident.
The Englishman explains this desolation by the oprichnina, however, in relation to Vologda and Yaroslavl, this explanation cannot be correct, since these were rich oprichnina regions. The conclusion suggests itself: the devastation of these lands was caused by crop failures.
From hunger and crop failures, people fled to the south, and this migration was massive. It was during that period of time that a huge influx of Russian and "royal" slaves was recorded by the Crimean markets. Similar processes took place in the Commonwealth: there was an outflow of the population to the south and the growth of Cossack communities.
Also, the starving fled to the Trans-Volga region to the Lower Volga, to Yaik and Don - there the Cossack population began to grow rapidly after 1570
The outflow of the population from the central regions caused the frequent raids of the Crimeans on Moscow. The troops of Devlet Gerey besieged Moscow several times, in 1571 they started a severe fire in the city, which practically destroyed the city. Only the victory in 1572 in the Battle of Molodi saved Russia from enslavement.
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First, let me remind you what dendrochronology is (see [Kolchin, 1977], [Vaganov, 2008]). The width of the next annual ring of a tree depends on the weather conditions of summer. If we take saw cuts of trees of the same species from the same locality, it turns out that the sequences of their rings are arranged in approximately the same way. If we take an old (but not very old) log and compare its annual rings with the rings of living trees, then we will understand when it was cut down (stopped growing). But at the same time, we will also learn how annual rings were arranged when this tree was young. If we found a lot of logs different ages(possible sources: wooden parts of buildings, swamps, permafrost,...), then comparing tree rings, we will establish the age of each log. Having done this work, we get the opportunity to date a fairly large piece of wood with an accuracy of up to a year.
Such work began in the first half of the 20th century. Many hundreds, and maybe thousands, of local dendrochronologies have now been built. Some of them (single ones) last as much as 10-25 thousand years.
With this kind of data, it is possible to track past climate fluctuations. In recent centuries, weather observations have been made, so it is possible to find out how the structure of the rings depends on weather conditions. It is argued that a decrease in summer temperature entails a decrease in the density of wood. On the other hand, frosty winters leave characteristic damage on the rings.
The authors of the mentioned article (1998) collected data from 383 local dendrochronologies. However, 287 of them are up to 1800, 159 up to 1700, 75 up to 1600 and only 8 up to 1400. It's about about the forest zone of the Northern Hemisphere, judging by the map, all points are located north of the 30th parallel. They are located unevenly. In Russia, only the north and Eastern Siberia are represented. IN North America- its western part (Cordeliers), in the eastern part - only the north (Canada and maybe a little bit of the USA). This zone is divided into 5 subzones, the average is calculated in each, and then the average for the subzones is taken. It should be borne in mind that in such problems, the averages depend markedly on the method of their calculation.
The article provides a list of the coldest years. The decrease in the density of tree rings (relative to the average for 1881-1960 in local chronologies) is indicated, the third column, and the approximate drop in average temperature, the fourth column.
1. 1601 -6.90 -0.81
2. 1816 -4.33 -0.51
3. 1641 -4.31 -0.50
4. 1453 -4.24 -0.50
5. 1817 -3.76 -0.44
6. 1695 -3.50 -0.41
7. 1912 -3.33 -0.39
8. 1675 -3.13 -0.37
9. 1698 -3.08 -0.36
10. 1643 -2.99 -0.35
11. 1699 -2.96 -0.35
12. 1666 -2.89 -0.34
13. 1884 -2.89 -0.34
14. 1978 -2.80 -0.33
15. 1837 -2.78 -0.32
16. 1669 -2.77 -0.32
17. 1587 -2.64 -0.31
18. 1740 -2.61 -0.30
19. 1448 -2.57 -0.30
20. 1992 -2.56 -0.30
21. 1836 -2.48 -0.29
22. 1818 -2.45 -0.29
23. 1495 -2.42 -0.28
24. 1968 -2.38 -0.28
25. 1742 -2.35 -0.27
26. 1783 -2.35 -0.27
27. 1667 -2.35 -0.27
28. 1642 -2.22 -0.26
29. 1819 -2.21 -0.26
30. 1446 -2.20 -0.26
........................................ ................................
We see that 1601 is ahead of everyone, and with a large (almost twofold) margin.
Further, the article discusses the relationship of peak cooling with the largest volcanic eruptions of the corresponding time period. The fact that the largest volcanic eruptions are followed by cooling with an annual delay was noticed long ago, by the way, this was also shown by dendrochronological data. In the article under discussion, dendrochronological statistics were simply combined. The fact that 1601 was one of the anomalous years was also noted many times, but such an outlier from the general statistics was noticed for the first time.
The words "volcanic winter" are often pronounced. Lowering the average temperature by 0.8 degrees is not winter. For example, in Moscow, the average July temperature in 1879-2014 varied within 14.6-26.1 (if we discard 2010, then the upper limit is 23.4 (temperatures in the interval 23.0-23.4 were three times, and the next after 14.6 is 14.7).
Now about volcanic eruptions. There are several scales for measuring their strength, the most common is the Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI).
The strength of an eruption is measured in terms of the amount of solid matter (tephra) thrown into the air. The indicator varies from 0 to 8, starting from two, there is an exponential scale with a factor of 10. For example, indicator 5 corresponds to 1-10 cubic KILOMETERS of tephra, indicator 6 - respectively 10-100 cubic kilometers, 7 - from 100 to 1000, and 8 - from 1000. Index 9 eruptions (if I understand correctly) have not been recorded.
For those for whom big numbers mean nothing. 10 cubic kilometers, smeared with a layer of 1 meter, occupy a square measuring 100 by 100 km.
Examples of large eruptions:
The city of Mont Pele was covered (1902) by an eruption of index 4. Pompeii was bombarded by an eruption of index 5. The eruption of the Nameless Hill (index 5) in 1956 seems to have done without casualties. The explosion of Krakatau had an index of 6. Eruptions of this power, as a rule or always, leave behind calderas. A caldera easily accessible for viewing: Maria Laach near Bonn, trace of an eruption 13,000 years ago. The Uzon-Geyser caldera is also claimed to be grade 6. The Kuril Lake in Kamchatka resulted from an eruption of the index 7. Yellowstone national park stands at the site of the index 8 eruption.
Eruptions of index 6 occur, apparently, 1-2 times per century. The only index 7 eruption in recorded human memory is Tambora in Indonesia, 1815. However, over the past 2000 years, there have been two more similar eruptions (on the current Sino-Korean border, 950-1000, and in Indonesia, 1258?).
It should be borne in mind that all these cubic kilometers quickly settle in the vicinity of the volcano (with a radius of several hundred kilometers). Long-term effects can be exerted by fine particles emitted into the upper layers of the atmosphere and gases foreign to the atmosphere (containing sulfur, chlorine, fluorine). Say, a year after the Pinatubo eruption (1991), the mass of aerosols in the upper atmosphere was estimated at 30 million tons. That is, the impact of volcanoes on the atmosphere is not homeopathic (in fact, the rise of cubic kilometers into the air should be accompanied by a fair amount of gas).
Now I'm giving the same list of extreme cold years plus a list of the largest eruptions of the 5-7 index, information on eruptions is taken from the Smithsonian Institute website. Global volcanism program, which contains information on all known volcanic eruptions over the past 10,000 years.
(in the 1998 article the list is different)
30. 1446 -2.20 -0.26
19. 1448 -2.57 -0.30
***5 1450\pm 50 Pinatubo (Philippines)
*** 6 1452?? (1420\pm 20) Kuvae (Vanuatu)
4. 1453 -4.24 -0.50
***5 1471 Sakura-jima (Japan)
***5 1477 Bardarbunga (Iceland)
*** 5 1480 Mount Saint Helena (USA, Washington)
*** 5 1482 Mount Saint Helena (USA, Washington)
23. 1495 -2.42 -0.28
***5 1563 Aqua de Pau (Azores)
***6 1580\pm 20 Billy Mitchell (New Guinea)
***5 1586 Kelut (Java)
17. 1587 -2.64 -0.31
***5 1593 Raung (Java)
***6 1600 Huaynaputina (Peru) ???
1. 1601 -6.90 -0.81
***5 1625 Katla (Iceland)
***5 1630 Furnas (Azores)
***5 1640 Komaga-take (Japan)
***5-6? 1641 Parker (Philippines)
3. 1641 -4.31 -0.50
28. 1642 -2.22 -0.26
10. 1643 -2.99 -0.35
***5 1650\pm10 Shiveluch (Kamchatka)
***6 1660\pm 20 Long Island (New Guinea)
***5 1663 Usu (Japan)
12. 1666 -2.89 -0.34
***5 1667 Shikotsu (Japan)
27. 1667 -2.35 -0.27
16. 1669 -2.77 -0.32
***5 1673 Gamkonora (Indonesia)
8. 1675 -3.13 -0.37
***5 1680 Tongkoko (Indonesia)
6. 1695 -3.50 -0.41
9. 1698 -3.08 -0.36
11. 1699 -2.96 -0.35
***5 1707 Fuji (Japan)
***5 1721 Katla (Iceland)
***5 1739 Shikotsu (Japan)
18. 1740 -2.61 -0.30
25. 1742 -2.35 -0.27
***5 1755-56 Katla (Iceland)
[***4 1783-84 Lucky (Iceland)]
26. 1783 -2.35 -0.27
*** 5 1800 Mount Saint Helena (USA, Washington)
*** 7 1815 Tambora (Indonesia)
2. 1816 -4.33 -0.51
5. 1817 -3.76 -0.44
22. 1818 -2.45 -0.29
29. 1819 -2.21 -0.26
***5 1822 Gallunggung (Java)
***5 1835 Cosiguina (Nicaragua)
21. 1836 -2.48 -0.29
15. 1837 -2.78 -0.32
***5 1847 Mount Saint Helena
***5 1853 Chikurachki (Kuril Islands)
***5 1854 Shiveluch (Kamchatka)
***5 1875 Askja (Iceland)
***6 1883 Krakatoa (Indonesia)
13. 1884 -2.89 -0.34
***5 1885 Tarawera (New Zealand)
***6--1902 Santa Maria (Guatemala)
***5--1907 Ksudach (Kamchatka)
***6--1911 Novarupta-Katmai (Alaska)
7. 1912 -3.33 -0.39
***5+--1916-32 Sierra Azul (Chile)
***5-- 1933 Kharimkotan (Kuril Islands)
***5-- 1955-57 Nameless (Kamchatka)
***5-- 1963-64 Agung
24. 1968 -2.38 -0.28
14. 1978 -2.80 -0.33
***5 -- 1980 Mount Saint Helena (California)
***5 -- 1982 El Chichon (Mexico)
***5 -- 1991 Sierra Hudson (Chile)
***6 -- 1991 Pinatubo (Philippines)
20. 1992 -2.56 -0.30
Let's look at the 20th century first. There are three index 6 eruptions, two of which are followed by cold snaps the following year. The probability of a coincidence is already very small.
XIX century. An index 7 eruption is followed by 4 cold years. An index 6 eruption is also followed by a cold year.
Now about index 6 eruptions in previous centuries. In three cases (Kuwae, Long Island, Bill Mitchell), dating was carried out by radiocarbon dating, which gives a large error. In this case, it is very possible that the error may be larger than indicated. The eruption of Parker volcano (1641) according to the database of the Smithsonian Institution had an index of 5, most texts on this topic indicate an index of 6. In any case, this eruption left the caldera. About Huaynaputina, after viewing the literature, I personally had big doubts, then I’ll tell you where they came from.
As for the eruptions of index 5, it is clear that they are generally not followed by peak cooling. However, there are more "hits" than it could be for random reasons. It can also be seen that there are years (including 1968, 1978) before which no eruptions of indices 5-6 are visible.
On the one hand, the "coupling" of the eruption-cooling does not look rigid, on the other hand, coincidences cannot be accidental.
Laki's eruption was added "by hand". It was a "non-explosive type" eruption, with relatively little tephra soaring into the air (however, a little short of index 5), but along a 25-kilometer-long fissure, there was an outpouring of lava, with a total volume of about 15 cubic kilometers. The eruption was accompanied by a huge release of poisonous gases, which led to the mass death of the population and most of the livestock of Iceland. Europe was covered with fog (dry-fog), there are numerous reports of the smell of sulfur.
It is natural to think that all major volcanic eruptions of the 20th century are known to us. Already in relation to the 19th century, this is not so (as if there was - see a little lower - an unidentified eruption of 1809).
There is, however, another paleoclimatological trump card. In Greenland and Antarctica (as well as in some mountainous areas), holes were drilled in the ice and ice cores were taken. Although it is never hot there, summer is still different from winter, so we can keep track of which year the deposits belong to. Unlike the tree scale, error is possible here, it is stated that in the best of the cores it is about 0.5 percent. In some layers, an increased content of sulfur (sulfuric acid) is visible, indicating volcanic activity in this or a previous year.
It is clear that Greenland cores should be able to see well to see large Icelandic eruptions (although there seem to be exceptions). But these eruptions are not visible from Antarctica. The Katmai 1911 eruption is not visible from Antarctica either (Katmai is approximately at the latitude of Novgorod). It turns out that the data of different cores even in Greenland differ markedly quantitatively, and moreover, there are sulfur emissions visible by some cores and invisible by others (although this is a small part of the lists). However, there are a number of synchronous Antarctic-Greenland peaks. Although there were quite a few articles on this topic (and there were many cores), I did not see the final texts where comparisons and statistics would be accurately made.
Anyway, here is a list of the strongest sulfur "signals" in Antarctica for "stations" BT263, LGB265, Plateau Remote, South Pole, taken from,. If the sulfur emission is visible from less than 4 stations, their number is given in parentheses. These data are old, there could be no fitting to the list of cold years.
1992-1994(3)+Greenland
1963, 1964, 1965, 1968 + Greenland(??)
1903-1904 (2)+Greenland
1809-1810(3)+Greenland
1639.1641(2)+Greenland
1600.1601(2)+Greenland
1450-1454(3)+Greenland
Greenland means under the same years there is a strong signal in Greenland, stations Dye3, GRIP, GISP2 .
Emissions of Pinatubo, Santa Maria, Krakatoa, Tambora are visible in both hemispheres. Sierra Hudson (Southern Chile, 1991) and Taravera (New Zealand, 1885) are visible across Antarctica. In addition, sulfur peaks are visible, according to dates close to the cold snaps of 1836-1837, 1641-1643, 1601, 1453. By the way, the last corresponds to the strongest sulfur peak for the period under consideration, twice as high as the Tambor peak (it is associated with a fairly large degree of plausibility with the underwater Kuvae caldera, ,). As for the peak of 1600-1601, it is not the highest among the main sulfur peaks.
Take another look at the ten coldest years in the Northern Hemisphere since 1400
1. 1601 -6.90 -0.81 - sulfur in Greenland and Antarctic ice
2. 1816 -4.33 -0.51 - Tambora, 1815
3. 1641 -4.31 -0.50 - sulfur in Greenland and Antarctic ice
4. 1453 -4.24 -0.50 - sulfur in Greenland and Antarctic ice
5. 1817 -3.76 -0.44 - Tambora, 1815
6. 1695 -3.50 -0.41
7. 1912 -3.33 -0.39 - Katmai, 1911
8. 1675 -3.13 -0.37
9. 1698 -3.08 -0.36
10. 1643 -2.99 -0.35 - sulfur in Greenland and Antarctic ice
One way or another, the connection of cold snaps with volcanic eruptions seems to be beyond doubt, the coldest years followed the largest eruptions, just as cooling usually followed the largest eruptions. There are no grounds to assert that all walks of the list 1-30 are of volcanic origin.
By the way, another example of an argument in favor of the theory. Dendrochronology indicates that the year 1259 was colder than 1600. Ice cores show, near this year, a sulfur release twice that of 1453 (this circumstance was known at least 30 years ago and has been discussed quite a lot, it has recently been stated that a suitable caldera has been found in Indonesia, ).
Now about Huaynaputina. This eruption is listed with an index of 6, but in fact its index gradually increased from 4 to 6, and 6 appeared after finding out that this year was a highlighted year. Whether the eruption was really so strong (or maybe there was an anomalously large release of gases and dust into the stratosphere) - those who wish can try to understand the literature. Volcanic ash was found in the Antarctic and Greenland ice in the same layer. The data of his chemical analysis exacerbate doubts rather than remove them. It can also be noted that the Huaynaputina eruption did not create a caldera, which is unusual for eruptions with an indicator of 6.
It is important, however, that the release of sulfur into the atmosphere - one of the largest in 600 years, although not the largest - according to ice cores was. It could be the result of some other unidentified eruption. on the basis of information about optical phenomena, he assumed an unknown eruption "in Kamchatka, Alaska or anywhere else" (by the way, idle: 1600 lies within the allowable interval for Bill Mitchell's volcano). From the point of view of human history in 1601, this is not so important.
The year 1601 now stands in a string, maybe not so fierce, but still difficult or strange years (quite detailed stories about some of them have come down to us). It must be borne in mind that the point is not at all that these years were 0.25-0.8 degrees colder than average.
KR Briffa, PD Jones, FH Schweingruber, TJ Osborn Influence of volcanic eruptions on Northern Hemisphere summer temperature over the past 600 years - Nature, 1998
Clausen, Henrik B.; Hammer, Claus U.; Hvidberg, Christine S.; Dahl-Jensen, Dorthe; Steffensen, J?Rgen P.; Kipfstuhl, Joseph; Legrand, Miche A comparison of the volcanic records over the past 4000 years from the Greenland Ice Core Project and Dye 3 Greenland ice cores. Journal of Geophysical Research - Oceans 1997, (Vol. 102, No. C12, page 26707-26723, 1997
Cole-Dai, Jihong; Mosley-Thompson, Ellen; Wight, Shawn P.; Thompson, Lonnie G. A 4100-year record of explosive volcanism from an East Antarctica ice core Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, V. 105, D19, 24431-24441, 2000
Chaochao Gao, Alan Robock, Stephen Self, Jeffrey B. Witter, J. P. Steffenson, Henrik Brink Clausen, Marie-Louise Siggaard-Andersen, Sigfus Johnsen, Paul A. Mayewski, and Caspar Amman The 1452 or 1453 A.D. Kuwae eruption signal derived from multiple ice core records: Greatest volcanic sulfate event of the past 700 years, JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 111, D12107, doi:10.1029/2005JD006710, 2006
[Kolchin, 1977] Kolchin B.A., Chernykh N.B. DENDROCHRONOLOGY OF EASTERN EUROPE (absolute dendrochronological scales from 788 to 1970) M., "Nauka", 1977
Lavigne, F.; Degeai, J.-P.; Komorowski, J.-C.; Guillet, S.; Robert, V.; Lahitte, P.; Oppenheimer, C.; Stoffel, M.; C. M., Vidal; Surono; Pratomo, I.; Wassmer, P.; Hajdas, I.; Hadmoko, D. S.; Belizal, E. de (2013-09-30). "Source of the great A.D. 1257 mystery eruption unveiled, Samalas volcano, Rinjani Volcanic Complex, Indonesia". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
Opehheimer, C. Erruptions that shocked the world. 2011
Shanaka L. de Silva, Gregory A. Zielinski Global influence of the AD1600eruption of Huaynaputina, Peru, Letters to Nature, 1998
[Vaganov, 2008] E. A. VAGANOV, V. B. KRUGLOV, V. G. VASIL’EV DENDROCHRONOLOGY TEACHING AID, Krasnoyarsk, 2008
GA Zielinski, 2000 Use of paleo-records in determining variability within the volcanism-climate system Quaternary Science Reviews, 2000 - Elsevier
G. A. Zielinski P. A. Mayewski1, L. D. Meeker, S. Whitlow, M. S. Twickler, M. Morrison, D. A. Meese, A. J. Gow, R. B. Alley Record of Volcanism Since 7000 B.C. from the GISP2 Greenland Ice Core and Implications for the Volcano-Climate System. Science May 13, 1994:
Liya Zhou, Yuansheng Li, Cole-dal Jihong, Dejun Tan, Bo Sun, Jiawen Ren, Lijia Wei, Henian Wang . A 780-year record of explosive volcanism from DT263 ice core in east Antarctica. Chinese Science Bulletin, November 2006, Volume 51, Issue 22, pp 2771-2780
In 1601, an unprecedented famine came to Russia, which lasted three years. The rains that did not stop all summer almost destroyed the crop, and early frosts finished off the work begun by the rains. Bread prices in Russia have grown tens and hundreds of times, and no handouts from Boris Godunov, who ordered to open state-owned bread storages for the poor and give them money, could not improve the situation. In Russia, the first turmoil of the 17th century came, and even the temporary lifting of the ban on the transition of peasants from one feudal lord to another on a cold Yuryev day did not save the matter. The following year, late frosts destroyed seemingly timely grain crops and, with them, the last remnants of bread.
Scientists have long suspected that the culprit of all these events, as well as the coldest year in six centuries in the Northern Hemisphere of the Earth, was the grandiose eruption of the Huaynaputina volcano on the other side of the Earth - in the Peruvian Andes. On February 19, 1600, a powerful explosion shook the vicinity of the volcano, destroying its cone-shaped top and killing one and a half thousand people who inhabited the Indian villages in its vicinity.
Two American geologists presented the most detailed compilation of historical evidence to date of a temporary cooling of the earth's climate at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries, and also tried to explain the mechanism of this phenomenon.
Kenneth Verosub and his student Jake Lippman of the University of California at Davis believe that the reason for the cold snap is the rise of sulfur compounds into the high atmosphere.
They made the atmosphere less transparent to solar radiation, and also became the seeds for the condensation of numerous small water droplets that gather into clouds and reflect much of the sunlight back into outer space.
Huaynaputina belongs to the so-called stratovolcanoes - high and steep volcanic formations in which especially viscous and thick lava rises up a narrow vent. Often it has time to harden even before the source of the next eruption dries up, clogging the lava channel. The tension builds up until an explosion occurs, lifting into the air whole layers of lava and ash, hardened after previous eruptions, rich in volcanic gases. One such explosion occurred in 1600, and since then Huaynaputina has not had time to restore the conical shape characteristic of stratovolcanoes.
View of Huaynaputina volcano. //igp.gob.pe
Modeling of air flows in the upper atmosphere showed that the effect could be truly global - high-altitude winds carried sulfur around the globe. At the same time, the cooling of the earth's surface under the brown skies only contributed to such a restructuring of the atmospheric circulation, which contributed to the transfer of sulfur compounds to areas that they had not yet managed to reach.
Indirect confirmation of the Verosub and Lippman model is the nautical records of the early 17th century about the incredibly fast transitions of galleons from Mexico to the Philippines.
Scientists believe that the reason for this is the strong winds that drove the sailing ships along Pacific Ocean away from the Andes.
At the same time, all evidence of the involvement of the Huaynaputin explosion in global cooling remains indirect, recognizes Verosub in an interview with Nature. Further, he intends to study the Jesuit chronicles of this era, as well as turn to one of the most important sources of information for archaeoclimatologists - accounting books maintained by Chinese officials in numerous counties of the ancient empire.
Perhaps even better confirmation would be direct measurement of sulfur compounds in silt deposits or ice cores from this era.
