Professor Mike Baillie at Queen’s University, Belfast, used tree rings to determine that there was a major change in the global environment at the time. Antarctic ice-cores also confirm a dramatic rise in carbon dioxide gas at exactly the same time medieval writers were claiming the atmosphere was corrupted.
During the 17th century, London suffered a plague so severe that it killed almost 1/4 of its entire population in 18 months. Scientists haven’t been sure what exactly caused the widespread disease, until now. [1]
A tiny flea, so small that most people wouldn’t notice the bug unless they were looking for it, bit a 16-year-old girl who was on a hunting trip in Oregon, giving her a rare case of bubonic plague.
The U.S. went a decade without any cases of the plague, but this summer the illness has made headlines after several people contracted the disease while visiting Yosemite National Park.
On August 18, California officials announced that they were looking into a case of plague in a Georgia resident who visited the park this month. The patient is presumed to have the plague, but the CDC has not yet confirmed the case. [1]
Last month, a Los Angeles county girl was also diagnosed with plague after visiting Yosemite. Health officials say she is recovering.
