--- title: Scientists Have Identified the Actual Worst Year in History description: Historians and scientists have figured out the worst time in human history, based on new analysis of glacial ice cores. canonical: https://time.com/5460027/worst-year-history/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-11-20T17:20:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:56:09.129Z og:title: Scientists Have Identified the Actual Worst Year in History. And No, It's Not 2018 og:description: Climate catastrophes and disease made this era particularly bad for humans og:url: https://time.com/5460027/worst-year-history/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5da401f5662e478e/69893f92fb4eaca434898449/iceland-volcano.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5184 og:image:height: 2916 og:image:alt: ICELAND-VOLCANO-BARDABUNGA og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Scientists Have Identified the Actual Worst Year in History. And No, It's Not 2018 twitter:description: Climate catastrophes and disease made this era particularly bad for humans twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5da401f5662e478e/69893f92fb4eaca434898449/iceland-volcano.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Scientists Have Identified the Actual Worst Year in History. And No, It's Not 2018 > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME The Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition The Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors. The Brief brings TIME's perspective to the day's most important stories, helping readers understand not just what is happening, but why it matters. It combines original reporting and analysis with the best of TIME, spanning politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically.  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Nov 20, 2018 5:20 PM UTC  An aerial picture taken on September 14, 2014 shows lava flowing out of the Bardarbunga volcano in southeast Iceland. An aerial picture taken on September 14, 2014 shows lava flowing out of the Bardarbunga volcano in southeast Iceland. BERNARD MERIC—AFP/Getty Images  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Nov 20, 2018 5:20 PM UTC 2018 has been a rough year for many. But we can be grateful for at least one thing [this Thanksgiving](http://time.com/5459966/us-forecast-poor-thanksgiving-2018/): It’s been worse. That’s what a team of scientists [and historians](https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/11/why-536-was-worst-year-be-alive) determined after looking back at humans’ history on Earth and identifying the year 536 AD as the absolute worst time to be alive, [according to CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/20/health/worst-year-536-scli-intl/index.html?). For one thing, there was a giant volcanic eruption in Iceland, with a resulting ash cloud that kept the northern hemisphere in the dark for 18 months, dropped temperatures to their coldest period and led to mass crop failure — and, of course, starvation. More volcanic eruptions followed. (The more recent [Icelandic](http://time.com/3291663/iceland-volcano-northern-lights/) and [Hawaiian](http://time.com/5277626/hawaii-kilauea-volcano-eruption-space/) volcanic eruptions seem relatively tame in comparison. Flight delays are annoying, but not catastrophic.) Then, just a few years later, the [bubonic plague](http://time.com/5312191/bubonic-plague-elmore-county-idaho/) took off across the Roman Empire from Egypt to Europe, wiping out as many as [50 million lives](https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/01/140129-justinian-plague-black-death-bacteria-bubonic-pandemic/) with its gruesome symptoms. The combination naturally led to a bleak economic environment, as starvation and disease took their toll on the population. While things improved about three decades later, they didn’t fully pick back up until about 640 — a full century later — when a “total economic transformation” took hold, according to Professor Christopher Loveluck, a co-author of a new study and educator at the U.K.’s University of Nottingham. [The study](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/alpine-icecore-evidence-for-the-transformation-of-the-european-monetary-system-ad-640670/0727B4230C5DA92634B6251B9FBD3898/core-reader), published last week in _Antiquity_, analyzes glacial ice from the Swiss Alps for evidence of atmospheric change and its effect on the financial landscape of early Europe, [confirming scientists’](https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/11/why-536-was-worst-year-be-alive) understanding of the unfortunate circumstances of 536 and subsequent economic and social shifts. So, yes, [climate change looms](http://time.com/5418690/why-ignore-climate-change-warnings-un-report/), wars [abound](http://time.com/5455507/saudi-war-yemen/) and a mysterious [polio-like disease](http://time.com/5440002/acute-flaccid-myelitis-cdc/) is posing a new threat, but take heart: at least we’re not living in the 6th Century AD. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5460027/worst-year-history/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5460027/worst-year-history/"},"headline":"Scientists Have Identified the Actual Worst Year in History. 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