The Impact of a Six‐Year Climate Anomaly on the “Spanish Flu” Pandemic and WWI

Abstract The H1N1 “Spanish influenza” pandemic of 1918–1919 caused the highest known number of deaths recorded for a single pandemic in human history. Several theories have been offered to explain the virulence and spread of the disease, but the environmental context remains underexamined. In this s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:GeoHealth
Main Authors: Alexander F. More, Christopher P. Loveluck, Heather Clifford, Michael J. Handley, Elena V. Korotkikh, Andrei V. Kurbatov, Michael McCormick, Paul A. Mayewski
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: American Geophysical Union (AGU) 2020
Subjects:
Spanish Flu
World War I
Climate Change
H1N1
Pandemic
Ice core
Environmental protection
TD169-171.8
ice core
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GH000277
https://doaj.org/article/36e1228e677d4d4690b56e549e26d878
Description
Summary:Abstract The H1N1 “Spanish influenza” pandemic of 1918–1919 caused the highest known number of deaths recorded for a single pandemic in human history. Several theories have been offered to explain the virulence and spread of the disease, but the environmental context remains underexamined. In this study, we present a new environmental record from a European, Alpine ice core, showing a significant climate anomaly that affected the continent from 1914 to 1919. Incessant torrential rain and declining temperatures increased casualties in the battlefields of World War I (WWI), setting the stage for the spread of the pandemic at the end of the conflict. Multiple independent records of temperature, precipitation, and mortality corroborate these findings.

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