A catastrophic volcanic eruption in Peru in 1600 caused short-term cooling that sent societies around the world reeling, new research suggests.
The violent eruption of the Huaynaputina volcano in southern Peru is considered to be one of the largest ever recorded in South America.
Scientists have long believed that the event prompted a yearlong cooling of Earth, as sulfur released into the upper atmosphere blocked sunlight from reaching the surface.
The resulting cold snap was felt among civilizations from Europe to Asia.
"We knew it was a big eruption, we knew it was a cold year, and that's all we knew," said study co-author Kenneth Verosub, a geology professor at University of California, Davis.
(Related: "Ancient Global Dimming Linked to Volcanic Eruption" [March 19, 2008].)
The study appeared recently in the journal Eos, Transactions of the American Geophysical Union.
A Bad Year for Wine
When Verosub and co-author Jake Lippman, also of UC Davis, recently scoured historical records for 1601, they found a string of seemingly related events.
A severe winter in Russia led to famine, social unrest, and the eventual overthrowing of the reigning tsar.
An atypical winter brought record snowfalls in Sweden, which led to springtime flooding, a poor harvest, and subsequent increases in hunger and disease.
Records also show that 1601 was a disaster for wine production worldwide, Verosub said.
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