I'm pretty sure that year that the global population of homo sapiens dwindled to about 5,000 members was worse than this...
Your comment got me curious: https://text.npr.org/163397584
Skies went dark: Historians pinpoint the 'worst year' ever to be alive
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Re: Skies went dark: Historians pinpoint the 'worst year' ever to be alive
#22But was this the “worst year to be alive” mostly in Europe? How about in other parts of the world?
It seems to have affected all of the Eurasian continent. Most likely North America, too.
I am curious how it affected the southern hemisphere.
Re: Skies went dark: Historians pinpoint the 'worst year' ever to be alive
#23I'm pretty sure that year that the global population of homo sapiens dwindled to about 5,000 members was worse than this...
On a similar note: "to be alive" made me think this wasn't limited to Homo Sapiens, so my money was on the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cretaceous%E2%80%93Paleogene_e...
Re: Skies went dark: Historians pinpoint the 'worst year' ever to be alive
#24i read this and think, well small wonder Christianity persisted all this time. the baseline level of suffering they endured is something most of us reading this will never know in our lifetimes, if we’re lucky. (though the hounds of climate change howl outside our doors) skies go dark, plagues. it’s literally biblical. what comfort could anyone turn to when it seemed like the very land and sky around them wanted them…
Mhm. Tough times drive you to a strong trust in whatever authority you think can keep you safe. The Church, the State, the Academy, the Army, your Tribe etc. I can only speculate that a person who truly believes nothing can save them will be driven into profound despair, limping along between sessions of something like excessive fantasy or drug use to cope.
Re: Skies went dark: Historians pinpoint the 'worst year' ever to be alive
#25An event like this, or anything else with a significant impact on food production is something many people should be absolutely prepared for. A bulk of countries, including where I live, are completely dependant on importing food. What do you think will happen if the net exporters experience a global supply crisis? Always be cognizant of events that are improbable but have a high impact on survival.
Is it feasible for many countries - particularly small, densely populated ones - to be self-sufficient in food?
In the UK, at least, I'm not sure there's physically enough space to farm enough food to supply the population. About 50% of food is imported and basically all the agricultural land is already used.
Re: Skies went dark: Historians pinpoint the 'worst year' ever to be alive
#26If curious, past threads: 536 was ‘the worst year to be alive’ (2018) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23565762 - June 2020 (356 comments) Why 536 was ‘the worst year to be alive’ - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18469891 - Nov 2018 (4 comments) Others?
Extreme weather events of 535–536 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26598570 - March 2021 (87 comments)
Re: Skies went dark: Historians pinpoint the 'worst year' ever to be alive
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
We’d probably handle it much better. I’m generally a pessimist but I have to give modern civilization some credit; food can be shipped over huge distances and plagues handled much better than in the past.
Not my intent to be snarky in posting this Did you miss the part where the federal government of the U.S. went around seizing shipments of PPE to the point that governors had to facilitate private deals and then guard them with troops and secrecy of logistics to supply their own states? As one member of the presidential envoy stated "they're our masks" - not for the serfs of the nation, apparently. As much as I'd lik…
Fortunately for Americans the shots are no longer being called by someone from reality TV, so governmental responses to future nationwide disasters should be marginally less pathetic.
Re: Skies went dark: Historians pinpoint the 'worst year' ever to be alive
#28An event like this, or anything else with a significant impact on food production is something many people should be absolutely prepared for. A bulk of countries, including where I live, are completely dependant on importing food. What do you think will happen if the net exporters experience a global supply crisis? Always be cognizant of events that are improbable but have a high impact on survival.
Is it feasible for many countries - particularly small, densely populated ones - to be self-sufficient in food? In the UK, at least, I'm not sure there's physically enough space to farm enough food to supply the population. About 50% of food is imported and basically all the agricultural land is already used.
Most of it is just a giant outdoor meat factory, though. Same for Ireland. Meat, fortunately, is unnecessary and very inefficient.
Re: Skies went dark: Historians pinpoint the 'worst year' ever to be alive
#29But was this the “worst year to be alive” mostly in Europe? How about in other parts of the world?
As the article mentions there's extensive records of the climatological effects in the Middle East and China, and there's also recordings of drought affecting populations in South America at the same time.
Re: Skies went dark: Historians pinpoint the 'worst year' ever to be alive
#30An event like this, or anything else with a significant impact on food production is something many people should be absolutely prepared for. A bulk of countries, including where I live, are completely dependant on importing food. What do you think will happen if the net exporters experience a global supply crisis? Always be cognizant of events that are improbable but have a high impact on survival.
Is it feasible for many countries - particularly small, densely populated ones - to be self-sufficient in food? In the UK, at least, I'm not sure there's physically enough space to farm enough food to supply the population. About 50% of food is imported and basically all the agricultural land is already used.
The Netherlands exports 10 times as much food as the UK with 1/10 of the arable land.
In the event of a crisis I am sure the UK would be able to ramp up their production and become more efficient.