Volcanic Eruption May Have Triggered Black Death Pandemic, Study Says

NEED TO KNOW

Scientists suggest in a new study that the Black Death may have been triggered by one or more volcanic eruptions

The disease may have been carried by fleas infected with the bubonic plague that traveled on grain ships in the Black Sea

The ships transported grain to various ports following poor local harvests that scientists may have been caused by cooler temperatures following the volcanic eruptions

A volcanic eruption may have triggered “the largest known plague pandemic in human history,” according to a new study.

In a new study about the potential origins of the Black Death, scientists suggested that one or more volcanic eruptions that occurred around 1345 may have allowed fleas infected with the bubonic plague to travel on ships transporting grain across the Black Sea