Ancient Roman Pandemic Outbreaks Linked with Cold Snaps Due to Climate Change [Study]

Ancient Roman pandemic outbreaks have been linked with cold snaps because of climate change. The explosion of diseases occurred at certain points in time during the powerful empire's centuries-long reign, according to a new study. Scientists assert cold climate coincided with these outbreaks, where its causes remain unclear. However, the findings confirm the link between infectious diseases and climate.

Researchers involved in the study arrived at their conclusion after using a new high-resolution climate reconstruction of marine sediments in southern Italy, a date range spanning from 200 B.C. to 600 A.D. Data from the reconstruction shows that pandemic outbreaks in ancient Rome occurred at the same time with an intensifying unstable climate and cold periods.

Ancient Roman Pandemic Outbreaks

Evidence of epidemic or pandemic outbreaks in the ancient world is not new. There have been notable widespread infections in the past. One of these is the 14^th century bubonic plague pandemic in Europe, known as the Black Death that killed between 75 and 200 million people. Historians believe it was caused by bites from infected fleas carried by rats.

In ancient Rome, an outbreak called the Justinian Plague, of the 6^th century killed 15 to 100 million people across the Eastern Roman Empire. Another outbreak in the Roman Empire transpired by the end of the 2^nd century; it is known as the Antonine Plague, also called the Plague of Galen. The disease was caused by Roman armies returning from western Asia.

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Cold Climates

Widespread, infectious diseases just like the Black Death and the mentioned ancient Roman pandemic outbreaks have been linked to immediate causes, pathogen-carrying hosts, and long-range transmissions relating to the movement of humans. Yet, the link between infectious outbreaks and climate change remains weak, even though scientists have confirmed them in previous years.

Now, a new research paper published in January 26 issue of the journal Science Advances shows the correlation between cold climates or cold snaps and ancient Roman pandemic outbreaks, in the context of climate change. Researchers were able to link climate and these ancient outbreaks by analyzing sediments from the Gulf of Taranto, located at the edge of the Italian peninsula.

Anthropogenic Climate Change

The study also highlights how the society in Roman Italy responded to the pandemic disease, which can provide insight to modern policies and measures against anthropogenic climate change. In recent years, research has shown that many infectious diseases are sensitive to climate. For instance, warmer climates are expanding in areas where disease-carrying mosquitoes can survive.

With this, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction has warned that the expansion and intensification of climate change can also escalate infectious diseases, especially if we do not impose swift climate action. Studies in recent years also support the evidence that outbreaks and harsh climates are related, whether under extreme cold or hot temperatures.