Climate & Environment in the 13th century

24 sourced entries, 1202 CE to 1293 CE, oldest first. Also see Climate & Environment across every century or everything else in the 13th century.

• 1202May 20 – An earthquake shakes the Levant from Egypt to northern Iraq, causing severe damage in Palestine, Lebanon and western Syria, including the fortifications of the Crusader cities of Acre, Jaffa and Tyre.source
• 1204February 21–23 – A large solar storm takes place, and is recorded in Meigetsuki, the diary of the Japanese poet Fujiwara no Sadaie.source
• 1210September 24 – Venus occults Jupiter (the last such occurrence until 1570).source
• 1218November 29 – A storm, lasting for 3 days, floods the Crusader camp – devastating the Crusaders' supplies and transportation. To prevent a recurrence Pelagius orders a dyke to be constructed. After the camp is repaired, a serious epidemic strikes the Crusader forces. The victims suffer from a high fever, and at least a sixth of the soldiers die. During the severe winter, the survivors are left enfeebled and depressed.source
• 1220Summer – The Crusader army is trapped by a Nile flood at Damietta. Cardinal Pelagius sends a Venetian squadron to intercept the Egyptian fleet, and attacks the harbours of Rosetta and Alexandria, but to no effect. Lack of money prevents Pelagius from building a sufficient number of ships, and the papal treasury can not spare him anymore. In September more of the Crusaders return home.source
• 1222May 11 – 1222 Cyprus earthquake.source
• 1222December 25 – The 1222 Brescia earthquake is so powerful that the inhabitants of Brescia leave their city en masse and camp outside so that falling buildings would not crush them, according to chronicler Salimbene de Adam.source
• 1241Early northern summer – A succession crisis or other priorities results in the Mongols withdrawing behind their river barrier into Ukraine and the Russias, leaving Central Asian and far Eastern Europe peoples tributary to the Khanates, but leaving Poland and Hungary to begin recovery and reorganization.source
• 1256June 30 – A large volcanic eruption in Harrat Rahat (near Medina) is associated with an Islamic prophecy.source
• 1257Samalas eruption: Mount Samalas volcano erupts on Lombok Island, Indonesia. One of the largest volcanic eruptions in the past 10,000 years, it creates severe climatic changes across the globe, leading to severe famine and death, and to one of the biggest geopolitical changes across the globe over the next few centuries.source
• 1258The consequences of the volcanic 1257 Samalas eruption in Indonesia include the following anecdotal accounts: very dry fog in France; lunar eclipses in England; severe winter in Europe; a harsh spring in Iceland; famine in England, Germany, France and Italy; and pestilence in London, parts of France, Austria, Iraq, Syria, and southeast Turkey.source
• 1266In the modern-day United States, a period of drought (up until 1299) begins in the Four Corners Region, putting an end to the ancient Puebloans Civilization.source
• 1268An earthquake in Cilicia occurs in 1268 northeast of the city of Adana. Over 60,000 people perished in the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia in southern Asia Minor.source
• 1275September 11 – 1275 British earthquake: An earthquake strikes the south of Great Britain. The epicentre is unknown, although it may have been in the Portsmouth-Chichester area on the south coast of England or in Glamorgan, Wales.source
• 1276A severe 23-year drought begins to affect the Grand Canyon area, eventually forcing the agriculture-dependent Puebloans (or Anasazi) to migrate out of the region.source
• 1282The most recent phreatic eruption of Larderello, observed, at Boracifero crater lake in southern Tuscany.source
• 1283An earthquake destroys two thirds of the cave city of Vardzia, Georgia.source
• 1284King Rudolf I imposes a trade embargo on Norway, due to the latter pillaging a German ship. The embargo cuts off vital supplies of grain, flour, vegetables and beer, causing a general famine in Norway.source
• 1287February – South England flood: A large storm hits the south coast, this has a powerful effect on the Cinque Ports, two of which are hit (Hastings and New Romney). The storm destroys Old Winchelsea on Romney Marsh and nearby Broomhill. The course of the Rother River is diverted away from New Romney, which is almost destroyed, ending its role as a port; the Rother runs instead to the sea at Rye – whose prospects as a port are enhanced. A cliff collapses at Hastings, ending its role as a trade harbor and demolishing a part of Hastings Castle. New Winchelsea is established on higher ground.source
• 1287December 14 – A huge storm and associated storm tide in the North Sea and English Channel, known as St. Lucia's flood in the Netherlands, kills thousands and reshapes the coastline of the Netherlands and England. In the Netherlands, a fringing barrier between the North Sea and a shallow lake collapses, causing the fifth-largest flood in recorded history – which creates the Zuider Zee inlet, and kills over 50,000 people. It also gives sea access to Amsterdam, allowing its development as an important port city.source
• 1290September 27 – The 6.8 Zhili earthquake affects the province of Zhili in China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), killing 7,270–100,000 people.source
• 1290Winter – The second of the Statutes of Mortmain passed during the reign of Edward I prevents land from passing into the possession of the Church.source
• 1290"Year without winter" – An exceptionally rare instance of uninterrupted transition, from autumn to the following spring, in England and the mainland of Western Europe.source
• 1293May 26 – An earthquake in Kamakura, Japan kills an estimated 23,000.source