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Props to the cameraman for capturing all this footage during such a horrible year.

History really puts our existence into perspective. So many lives cut brutally short. Makes my problems seem bearable.

I am always amazed at what our ancestors survived.

Man, I miss when channels on tv like History or Discovery Channel would have documentaries like this one...

Given covid, I think the world would cope with a worldwide incident quite poorly

Watching this, one can’t help but marvel at what an incredibly complex world we live in, and especially at what a close-run thing civilization truly is. At any moment, natural forces beyond our control can simply turn the page on humankind as we know it. It’s just remarkable.

When Mt. St. Helens erupted, a relative in Portland sent us a vial of the resultant ash that she'd scraped off foliage in her yard. It was unbelievably fine, and it was easy to see how the wind could carry it great distances.

All of this must have scared the bejesus out of the people of the time. Dimming sun, drought, plague. It must have seemed the literal end of the world.

I read the sound of Krakatoa's eruption in 1883 created a concussive shockwave circled the globe four times. The ocean was measured to rise and fall in lockstep with the blast. Some within a 50km radius might've died just from the wave of air impacting their body. And that was calculated at only 13,000x hiroshima. 2,000,000,000x? I can't even imagine an eruption that size.

Why is history so much more interesting the older you get? I am always fascinated by so many great stories told about the past. Thank you for a really well done documentary

It puts into dimension how 'privileged' we are right now to actually know what's going on. Meanwhile, you could be a random Roman citizen at Ravenna and see the sky's gone dark, that the summer feels cold and that there's a sudden food shortage, with no knowledge that it's all caused by the eruption of a volcano that is located in a land you don't even know exists.

I'm from Indonesia. This video gimme answer why our historic notes about our ancient kingdoms was missing between 6-8 Century. In 5th century several ancients kingdoms were thriving during Indonesian archipelago like Kingdom of Kutai and Tarumanegara . Without clear reason, all of those ancient notes were missing at 6 th century.

I was living in Florida when mt. St. Helens erupted back around 1980. The sky stayed grey for months and ash rained down for weeks. I want to think we heard the explosion but it was so long ago. I heard from guys I later served in the Navy with who said they had ash cover the ships hundreds of miles out to sea in the Atlantic Ocean from that eruption. It’s easy to forget just how powerful Mother Nature is.

I'd like to thank my ancestors for surviving. I didn't live in ancient times of famine, but something inside me makes me grateful for everything. Small things, such as a tomato or piece of fruit.

I’m surprised they didn’t talk about the 1815 eruption of mount Tambora. It’s still remembered as the year without a summer or "Eighteen-hundred and froze to death"

When you think about how often people die in the present day (which is A LOT) and how humans used to die even more often for as long as we've existed, it starts to become clear we're literally just another life form on this planet that isn't tougher or more special than ants or fungus. And as a human who tends to think of humans in general as being extra special, it's quite sobering to come to this realization.

During this time, the Eastern Roman empire was fighting with the Sassanid empire in Persia. An emissary went to Syria, when they noticed everyone getting sick. He went back and told the king to call off the invasion.

Can't be worse then my parents walking 20 miles barefoot in their grandparents hand me downs in a snow storm to school back in their day.

Ilopango volcano in El Salvador erupted in 535 AD - some believe this was responsible for the collapse of Teotihuacan. I'm sure the eruption in 536 AD at Krakatao did not help things for them.

It never ceases to amaze me that my ancestors survived all of history.

If such an event would occur, wouldn’t it be in the interest of all nations be to somehow filter the atmosphere on a large scale, rather than to just wait for the catastrophic results to run its course? Surely such an effort would bring the world together rather than to tear it apart yet again. Perhaps strategically placed filtration locations near known volcanic hotspots, could mitigate an initial spread of ash, etc. It seems like our world has started to seek solutions for a possible future asteroid strike. Why not become more proactive about a much more likely event such as this?

Imagine how fresh the water was, how clean the air, how lush the forests. Aside from the usual natural disasters...

I remember reading about this year during undergrad in college... I'm not sure why? It's crazy how we kept things documented for so long right?

Biological warfare was another fun thing that people did by catapulting diseased corpses over city walls like the Tartars did to the Genoans in 1347, which for all intents and purposes were just as horrible as events 8 centuries before.

It has erupted much more than that! Because of plate tectonics the Yellowstone volcano was out in the Pacific Ocean long before it ended up in Wyoming. I learned this from Nick Zentner the geologist professor at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, WA.

The amount of combined scientific research in this video is absolutely insane.

If this happened today, no doubt half the population would deny that volcanos even exist.

The fact we’re all here today, knowing our ancestors were some of the few that survived, makes me think that we’re a bit lucky to exist

Somehow I ended up here and love it! Everyone needs to watch this. Really makes you think of our current times. History truly repeats itself

😐Ok, but for at least one person back then, this was a really _GREAT year,_ ya know? I promise you that there was at least ONE son of a nobleman who partied throughout the entire year of 536...And he likely wrote to his uncle about it.

The 1815 eruption in Indonesia caused global havoc. 1816 was described as the year without a summer. There were crop failures and snow storms in June through August in America.

To all those people commenting about 2020 etc. being worse. Appreciate the wonders we now live among. These are the best times ever. For those who don't love to whinge.

fascinating documentary and it does a great job showcasing how fragile civilizations can be and just the overall helplessness

I’m looking at my dog and realized her ancestors survived this also.

536 was a fantastic year. Loved it

What is amazing is that someone is still alive to account for what happened back then. Crazy...

Exceptional research. Explains so many gaps in history...much will need to be re-written.

Makes you really glad to live in a chaotic, but more connected, world.

You gotta admire the dedication of the cameraman, pulling some sick panoramic shots and close-ups before it was cool.

Well, there is some ideas that such catastrophes may be beneficial to humanity in the end. For example Black Plague in Europe not only caused millions of deaths but also severely diminished available workforce , increased laborer value (which disallowed elite to handle laborer as cattle) and forced mechanization to increase produce. All this chained events in the end undermined traditional system and given people rights.

It's paradoxical that the tower is the structure most in tact .You think of things toppling from the top down.

This is really interesting because there are other periods of mass cooling which preceded global political upheaval. The global cooling caused by Genghis Khan would have contributed to the Plague epidemic of the 14th century which decimated 1/3 of Europe, and the volcanic eruptions of the late bronze age caused a global cooling which created a drought throughout mesopotamia, causing famine, war, and eventually the bronze era collapse. I would like to see what other global events could have been caused or contributed to by climate change

Imagine what the world would be like if the Volcano never erupted

If the eruption were below sea level, then it seems about half of everything injected into the stratosphere would be sea water. I wonder how that would change the outcome.

I wish you’d explained how such a localized event spread over the entire planet.

You think "Yea, well 2022 wasn't nice" then you watch something like this and remember how good you have it

But what happened to the sea life? Whales, dolphins, fish? Did they all sense the vibration and move away ahead of time? Or were they caught in the fallout?

2:01 I've never heard of the number two thousand million, now I see that it is a cultural difference I say 2 billion, you say two thousand million, tomato tomato ;) This video is so full of information to learn! Love it!

It's scary and weird to think about how most of us with European heritage are only here by the sheer dumb luck and immunity genetics that allowed us through the eye of that needle to the future.

Really well organized and explained video 😁👍

This was good. I enjoyed it thoroughly. Thank you for posting it.

Wow! Climate change, pandemic, war and a global food shortage happening all at once? I can't even imagine.

It makes me nuts that they compare these explosions to nuclear bombs without discussing the difference because of radiation. Life sucked in the 6th century, but people didn't die of radiation poisoning. Dying of radiation poisoning is horrible.

While I was watching the video I checked the Gupta Empire, an ancient Indian empire. This period is considered as the Golden Age of India by historians. I was surprised to find out that the mighty empire fall in 550 CE.

I just finished watching another program on this channel showing how the dark ages were not dark, and that the anglo saxons did not invade, they came as settlers, that when the Roman rulers left, the people on the island continued to live the Roman style of life.

I never knew about the correlation between plague and temperature. Interesting. Thanks.

Knock on effect is basically chain reaction. And it's sad people can't identify knock on effects with our current world situation. We're going to need a compilation of world events from 2020 - 2030 for folks to understand we're in trouble brewing.

Only a matter of time before a mega volcano erupts again. Scary to think about it really.

1. the Lancelot Grail is from the 1200s. It has to be analyzed to see if it matches Olrik's Principles for Oral Narrative Research and thus is a record of an oral tradition. If not, it's an invention of literate people. 2. Even in London, there is a 50% Celtic male DNA substrate. London became Anglo-Saxon with the founding of Aldwych in the 600s CE. You don't get that high a MALE DNA result if that whole people was wiped out or withdrew completely from the entire east of the country. 3. African red slip ware, a luxury item, remained in production and distribution into the 600s CE. It was being imported to Britain during the 500s when "the catastrophe" happened. You don't get that if the island's economy has been destroyed. This would have been part of the trade that brought the plague in. 4. This video incorporates sampling bias. China split into the northern and southern dynasties in the 380s CE and did not re-unite until 589 CE. Keys is wrong about this. 5. The Frankish kingdom existed from 431-843 with its capital at Paris from 508-768 under the Merovingians. There is no chronological connection between their decline and the "catastrophe". 6. The Gothic kingdoms of Spain existed from the 400s to the 700s CE. In particular the Arian kingdom of Theudis and Agila I cover this period. Spain was strong enough to attempt to invade Africa although it failed. There was no change in government at the time of the "catastrophe". Conclusion: people love catastrophes but if they don't do their homework, they make mistakes. Also new info later can overturn conclusions. Keys published in 1999 before PCR revolutionized DNA analysis. Now that we know the Celts didn't perish at all, let alone in the 500s, this video becomes OBE.

For anyone who wondered like myself when this first aired, this looks to be from 1999 (MCMXCIX). Those big computer monitors were a hint to that.

Incredible . A great documentary.

So if there were a series of explosions one after another which manifested in fountains of hot magma spurting out of the earth and then settling as ash everywhere, does it mean that the surface of the earth and creatures on it were victims not just of one huge bang, but of a volcano gang bang?

it always baffles me how interesting history can be

Well! No need for horror movies when you have actual history to look at.

Nice to hear about natural disasters and survival of people and animals and surviving hunger

Hopefully these volcanos can learn to process their fiery anger instead of waiting until they blow their lids. Perhaps EMDR might relieve some of the pressure?

I'm in Queensland, Australia and this year has already been shocking. Considering it's only March, we are feeling very tired already. Covid lock downs then massive floods, people here are really struggling.

Thank you. The detail and production are marvelous.

I love how people back then will always put plague, natural disasters, and the sky going black together, etc. They didn’t know the science between the connection but they new one always followed the other.

We're all here today because someone in our family tree in 536 wasn't a wimp.

Every time they say Krakatoa, I imagine that one episode of SpongeBob where they’re superheroes 😭

Anyone else feel horrible to hear about the death and struggling of the fleas? Just me? Okay...

The most interesting thing I learned from this is that apparently in the entire world of today, there is only one woman, and she is sitting in a rickshaw with a piece of paper covering her face against the fumes of.... possibly air pollution?

It was an enlightening look into history, but I think you guys need to define toxic gases and exactly what is released in volcanic eruptions. CO2 is not a toxic gas. Sulphur dioxide and H2S are, but no mention of it. If CO2 was dangerous, then sailers in subs would not live in it at over 10,000 ppm. Oxygen deficiency is what people blame on CO2.

I was around 20 hrs old and we lived in Westchester Co , White Plains NY and the ash covered the reservoir. Very strange to hear that it was from Mt St Helens!

Kra·ka·tau (krăk′ə-tou′, krä′kə-) or Kra·ka·to·a (-tō′ə) A volcanic island of Indonesia between Sumatra and Java. An explosive eruption in August 1883 destroyed most of the island and caused a tsunami that killed more than 36,000 people.

An actual historical event of a nuclear winter type extinction level event. Nature's fury!

24:32 The Avar Khagnate in Europe being a thing was a chain reaction from a dang volcano exploding. 33:47 Greenskins from Total War Warhammer

Does this mean Earth mass becomes bigger with each super volcanic activity and if so, could it possibly slow Earth's rotation whereas before, it spun faster and days and nights were shorter? Thanks to anyone answering?

watching post mental breakdown to remind myself how lucky i am to just sit in bed and eat berries i didn’t even have to pick

This volcano would have the same effect as a 10-point magnitude earthquake. Wouldn't it be more likely that the earth's rotation was affected?

This was very interesting and informative 👍

With recent volcanic activity can just imagine how devistating a super massive eruption could influence global climate and human culture.

nice of you to try and make us feel better about the 20s by telling us there's a crappier year out there somewhere. Had they known that during the black death maybe it wouldn't have been so "dark" 😆

I live in Washington state. There's geological evidence of ash from other explosions effecting the climate here. There is Mt. Mazama ash in the ground here

The cc is A1. 😂😂😂😂 descriptions on point 😂 whoever did this THANK YOU! not even 1 minute in and you can tell its a passion 🫡

To cross the American Great Plains in wagons in the 1800s people had to exchange their horses for oxen because the horses would starve in the grasslands.

Given the recent, January 2022, Tonga eruption and the current belief, August 2022, that there has been so much water injected into the atmosphere, how does the Tonga eruption compare in long term effects as the the Krakatoa eruption? Anyone know where this may be discussed and researched?

On Sunday, 24th April 2022 the "Anak Krakatau" or "The Child of Krakatoa" has erupted. (The Anak Krakatau is the fourth island emerged from Krakatau / Krakatoa caldera). Hope everything will be okay.

that would explain all those "underground" cities that are been found all over the place (that "nobody" seems to be able to explain why they are there)!!

This apocalyptic video wasn't exactly what I needed these apocalyptic days.

When Krakatoa erupted in the 1883, it was as devastating.

The after effects are well described in Cormac McCarthy's The Road.

Europe became like that because of volcano in Asia, Imagine what people live around Krakatoa experience

I honestly didn’t expect the ENTIRE MOUNTAIN to just obliterate

2020 wasn't the worst year to be alive but it was definitely the stupidest.

Carnt help thinking of all those solar panels if this happened today😆 Also I heard someone hypothesise that because the sun was blocked out people suffered from low Vit D levels which affected peoples immunity and ability to fight disease

It would be interesting to look at legends from all peoples around the world at the time. The hints can be very subtle.

Politicians and aristocrats are paying attention to natural forces changing history. They are entrenching themselves with the resources to protect themselves, while limiting social mobility to those with exemplary sense. They are putting together their surviving group and leaving the less fortunate to die.