Joint colloquium with Department of Atmospheric Sciences

Keywords: aerosols, heavy metals, volcanology, plague, history, Rome

Abstract: Aerosol records developed from ice cores are powerful tools for reconstructing the timing and extent of natural and anthropogenic changes in Earth’s environment. Aerosols are small droplets or particles in air and precipitation associated with sea spray, windblown dust, biomass burning, volcanism, and, during recent centuries and millennia, industrial activities. Recent analytical advances have enabled efficient development of accurately dated aerosol records from arrays of polar and alpine ice cores. Here we use such arrays, together with sophisticated atmospheric transport models, to investigate potential societal, economic, and political impacts of events such as explosive volcanism and plague - with particular focus on European antiquity and the Middle Ages.