Meanwhile, smaller eruptions also appeared to help precipitate dynastic shifts at times when political and socioeconomic stress was already high. This fissure volcano in Iceland - the largest volcanic canyon in the world - erupted 4.3 cubic miles of magma and led to one of the coolest summers in 1500 years. The team found that large volcanic climate 'shocks' can trigger societal collapse, like the fall of the Min and Later Jin dynasties in the wake of the 939 Eldgjá eruption.

They also analysed documents from China detailing the history of 68 dynasties from 850–1911 - using warfare as a proxy for political and socioeconomic stress. Researchers led from Zhejiang University analysed historical atmospheric sulphate levels recorded in ice cores extracted from both Antarctic and Greenland.įrom this, they were able to reconstruct 156 explosive volcanic eruptions that occurred around the world between 1–1915 AD. The collapse of some of Imperial China's most powerful dynasties over the last 2,000 years may have been triggered in part by volcanic eruptions, a study found.Įruptions - by releasing sunlight-reflecting sulphate aerosols into the atmosphere - can cool and dry climates, leading to livestock death and crop damage.

Volcano box proxy server