Environmental Interactions 600 BCE to 600 CE

The Plague of Justinian was the first ever outbreak of bubonic plague and would continue to spread exploration westward into Europe. 1340 saw an explosion of bubonic plague that would persist for sixty years, killing a third of the population of Europe. This outbreak would become known as the Black Death.

Population growth and state building have long been hindered in Sub-Saharan Africa by obstacles that simply do not exist in other parts of the world. The extreme prevalence of insect-borne diseases like malaria, which humans are extremely vulnerable to, has had a catastrophic impact on Sub-Saharan human history. Furthermore, the climate of Sub-Saharan Africa fluctuates wildly, including prolonged periods of drought, which made agricultural societies all but impossible until fairly recently. Finally, the massive geographic barrier that is the Sahara Desert kept this region isolated from the rest of Afro-Eurasia until the arrival of Arabs and Europeans. This meant that the people living in Sub-Saharan Africa were not exposed to the same diversity of ideas, resources, and innovations as the rest of the world.

The Plague of Justinian occurred from 541 - 542 CE Like the later Black Death - which devastated the population of Europe in the fourteenth century - the Plague of Justinian was a widespread epidemic caused by the transmission of the Bubonic Plague. Modern historical estimates range from twenty million to fifty million deaths globally. The population of the Byzantine Empire declined dramatically as a result of the plague. It is called the Plague of Justinian because it occurred during his reign (he was himself afflicted, but he survived).