Date of Award
12-2007
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Degree Program
History
Department
History
Major Professor
Wilson, Jeffrey
Second Advisor
Bischof, Guenter
Third Advisor
Goss, Andrew
Fourth Advisor
Mitchell, Mary N.
Abstract
The two great bubonic plague outbreaks of history, Justinian's Plague and the Black Death were responsible for the deaths of over one hundred million individuals across Eurasia and Africa. Both occurrences of the plague coincided with climatic shifts that are well documented by both literary and physical evidence. This thesis explores the possibility that both Justinian's Plague and the Black Death were precipitated by climatic shifts preceding their respective eras and that these changes also contributed to disappearance of each pandemic. A scientific analysis investigating the climatic changes including the anomalous weather of 535-536 A.D., the Medieval Warm Period, and the Little Ice Age are correlated with literary evidence recording the transmission and dormancy sequence of the plague. Although distinct differences exist between the origins of climate change in the periods preceding each plague, the effects of such changes clearly resulted in conditions ideal for the resulting pandemics.
Recommended Citation
Bilich, Richard Christian, "Climate Change and the Great Plague Pandemics of History: Causal Link between Global Climate Fluctuations and Yersinia Pestis Contagion?" (2007). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 632.
https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/632
Rights
The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.