- Zenia Zuraiq, III B.Sc. Physics
We have a lot of problems in the world today. From the increasing divisiveness and fasciness of politics all around the world to the Earth literally being polluted to death by us, we seem to be living in a real dumpster fire of a time.
Disaster, disaster, disaster.
The world seems to be a pretty bad place to live in right now.
But is now really the worst time to be alive? Obviously not.
Ever the optimist, I set out to (as a joke) search for the worst time to be a human.
You have to admit, there have been some pretty strong contenders for the Worst Years Ever trophy. Both World Wars, the Cold War, the Vietnam War… basically any war. Also, all those hundreds of years when colonialism was a thing, that was pretty bad too. Also, all the times before vaccinations and antibiotics—though some people seem unwilling to move on (*cough* anti-vaxxers *cough*). The Black Death—that was definitely terrible…
And more and more and more.
It turns out humans are pretty good at being awful to each other, and often.
So, what was the worst time to be alive?
As it turns out, this is a topic that real researchers have worked on. I love being alive!
Scientists have determined (as per a 2018 article on sciencemag.org) that the worst year to be alive was… 536 CE. According to Michael McCormick, a medieval historian and archaeologist who chairs the Harvard University Initiative for the Science of the Human Past, "It [536 CE] was the beginning of one of the worst periods to be alive, if not the worst year".
So—what made 536 so horrible? Well, to start with, it was kind of in the middle of the sixth century, which we’ve kindly taken to calling the “Dark Ages”. But, was it really worse than all the plagues and the wars and the everything? Yes; but, in a first, this was not due to a human endeavour.
It turns out 536 CE had us beat on terrible weather incidents. So much for climate change advocacy.
In 536 CE, a mysterious fog rolled over Europe, the Middle East and parts of Asia. Much of the world went dark for a full 18 months that year (maybe that’s why they’re called the Dark Ages). The fog blocked the Sun, caused low temperatures and resulted in a lot of people dying. The culprit behind the fog? A volcanic eruption in Iceland earlier in the year, big enough to alter global climate patterns, causing years of famine. The Byzantine historian Procopius wrote about the period, “the sun gave forth its light without brightness, like the moon, during this whole year.”
That wasn’t all: the volcanic ash blocking the sun was dramatic enough to make temperatures colder by a couple of degrees overnight. China even experienced summer snow. Accounts said that “the sun had a ‘bluish’ color”, “the moon had lost its lustre” and the “seasons seem to be all jumbled up together.” People weren’t able to see their own shadows—even at noon. The effect was further compounded by more eruptions in the 540s. The “Late Antique Little Ice Age” rattled the Northern Hemisphere and it took until the 660s to the 680s for the world to recover.
The century after the eruption saw the fall of many kingdoms, whether it was the Sasanian Empire, the decline of the Eastern Roman Empire, political upheavals in China, or the many other instances of bloody social turmoil across Eurasia.
So now you might (rightfully) ask—what was the point of this whole ordeal? That other people have it worse so we shouldn’t complain? That we are at the mercy of the Climate Gods and we should do more for the planet? Well, yeah.
I know 2019 has been not-great in many respects, but at least we didn’t have a literal black cloud masking us the whole time. Also, it’s very humbling to remember that people existed before us, obvious as it may seem. It’s nice to take a step out of ourselves and our lives ever so often, and see how vast the expanse of shared human history really is.