Climate & Environment in the 6th century

31 sourced entries, 508 CE to 592 CE, oldest first. Also see Climate & Environment across every century or everything else in the 6th century.

• 508Winter – All the rivers in England are frozen for more than two months.source
• 512King Theodoric the Great grants citizens on Mount Vesuvius exemption from taxes, after a severe eruption in southeastern Italy.source
• 518An earthquake destroys the city of Scupi (modern-day Skopje, North Macedonia), in what once was the Roman province of Moesia Superior.source
• 525The Daisan river, tributary of the Euphrates, floods Edessa, and within a couple of hours fills the entire city except for the highest parts. Eventually the pent-up waters break through the city walls. The Shroud of Turin is allegedly discovered during the rebuilding of the city (see Image of Edessa).source
• 526Probably between May 20 and May 29 – 526 Antioch earthquake: A great earthquake kills approximately 250,000 people in Syria and Antioch.source
• 528November 29 – Natural disaster: A second earthquake strikes Antioch, killing thousands.source
• 535Significant to the history of agriculture, Chinese author Jia Sixia writes the treatise "Chimin Yaoshu" in this year, and although it quotes 160 previous Chinese agronomy books, it is the oldest existent Chinese agriculture treatise. In over 100,000 written Chinese characters, the book covers land preparation, seeding, cultivation, orchard management, forestry, animal husbandry, trade, and culinary uses for crops.source
• 535The weather is reported to be unusually cold and dark in multiple parts of the world; see Extreme weather events of 535–536.source
• 535Reports of the eruption of Krakatoa (Java), which possibly led to several years of climate change (see Extreme weather events of 535–536), are recorded in the Javanese Book of Kings.source
• 536August – Volcanic winter of 536: Snow falls in China, which causes the harvest to be delayed.source
• 536Early in 536 (possible) – Volcanic winter of 536: Famine is described in the Annals of Ulster.source
• 536The volcanic winter of 536, thought to have been caused by an extensive veil of dust in the atmosphere, began in the Northern Hemisphere. It continued until the following year, causing unseasonal weather and crop failure worldwide.source
• 537June – In Rome, famine brings the city to despair; Belisarius sends his secretary Procopius to Naples for more reinforcements and supplies. Vitiges arranges a three-month armistice for Gothic envoys to travel to Constantinople.source
• 539November 29 – Antioch is struck by an earthquake.source
• 540Global environmental cooling occurs, due either to a comet impact or volcanic eruption in Central America, evidenced by global tree ring growth diminution. Recent evidence from Swiss ice core points to volcanic eruptions in Iceland. Historical evidence records this earlier as the Extreme weather events of 535–536.source
• 542The 542 Sea of Marmara earthquake takes place in the winter of 542, in the vicinity of the Sea of Marmara. It also affects the coasts of Thrace and the Edremit Gulf.source
• 550The last known eruption of Chimborazo (modern Ecuador) occurs.source
• 551July 9 – Beirut is destroyed by an earthquake and tsunami. Its epicenter has an estimated magnitude of about 7.2 or 7.6, and according to reports of Antoninus of Piacenza, Christian pilgrim, some 30,000 people are killed.source
• 551Spring – The 551 Malian Gulf earthquake takes place in the vicinity of the Malian Gulf; it affects the cities of Echinus and Tarphe.source
• 554August 15 – The 554 Anatolia earthquake takes place in the southwest coasts of Anatolia (Asia Minor). It affects the Güllük Gulf (Mandalya Gulf), and the island of Kos.source
• 555An earthquake devastates the city of Latakia (modern Syria).source
• 557December 14 – The 557 Constantinople earthquake occurs.source
• 558May 7 – In Constantinople, the dome of the Hagia Sophia collapses due to an earthquake. Emperor Justinian I orders the dome to be rebuilt.source
• 563Tauredunum event: A mountain landslide into the Rhone river destroys a fort and two villages, and creates a tsunami in Lake Geneva. The wave which reaches Lausanne is thirteen metres high, and eight metres high by the time it hits Geneva. Describing the event, Marius Aventicensis writes that the tsunami "devastated very old villages with their men and cattle, it even destroyed many sacred places", and swept away "the bridge in Geneva, windmills and men".source
• 565Summer – A war erupts between Alboin, the king of the Lombards, and King Cunimund, the leader of the Gepids. (approximate date).source
• 566A major volcanic eruption occurs in the Antarctic.source
• 567Three Disasters of Wu: Emperor Wu Di of the Northern Zhou dynasty initiates the second persecution of Buddhists in China. This persecution continues until he is succeeded by his son Emperor Xuan.source
• 574A major volcanic eruption occurs in the Antarctic.source
• 589October 17 – Breach at Cucca. The Adige River overflows its banks, flooding the church of St. Zeno and damaging the walls of Verona.source
• 591A locust swarm destroys the harvest in Northern Italy (approximate date).source
• 592Winter – Empress Suiko moves the imperial capital of Japan to Asuka-Toyura Palace (Nara Prefecture) during the Asuka period.source