Alexander F. More1,2 , Nicole E. Spaulding2, Pascal Bohleber2,3, Michael J. Handley2,
Helene Hoffmann3, Elena V. Korotkikh2, Andrei V. Kurbatov2 , Christopher P. Loveluck4 ,
Sharon B. Sneed2, Michael McCormick1 , and Paul A. Mayewski2 - Link to Full Article
Abstract Contrary to widespread assumptions, next-generation high (annual to multiannual) and
ultra-high (subannual) resolution analyses of an Alpine glacier reveal that true historical minimum
natural levels of lead in the atmosphere occurred only once in the last ~2000 years. During the Black Death
pandemic, demographic and economic collapse interrupted metal production and atmospheric lead
dropped to undetectable levels. This finding challenges current government and industry understanding of
preindustrial lead pollution and its potential implications for human health of children and adults worldwide.
Available technology and geographic location have limited previous ice core investigations. Read More...
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Michael McCormick Born on the banks of the Erie Canal, McCormick received his Ph.D. from the Université catholique de Louvain in 1979. He served on the faculty of the Department of History of the Johns Hopkins University from 1979 to 1991, and was Research Associate at Dumbartons Oaks from 1979 to 1987. He came to Harvard in 1991, where he is presently the Francis Goelet Professor of Medieval History and chairs the new University-wide Initiative for the Science of the Human Past at Harvard (SoHP), an interdisciplinary research networks that brings together geneticists, archaeological scientists, climatologists, environmental, computer and information scientists, humanists and social scientists in order to explore great questions of human history from our origins in Africa to our migrations across the globe. |