The year 1349, when the Black Death wiped out half of Europe’s population, and 1918 — when influenza killed up to 100 million people — were practically a breeze compared to 536 A.D., the worst year ever to be alive on Earth, scientists said.

　　1349年，黑死病夺去了欧洲一半的人口，1918年，流感夺去了1亿人的生命。这都远远不能和公元536年相比，科学家说，这是地球上最糟糕的一年。

　　In that colossally miserable year, ash from a volcano plunged into Europe, the Middle East and Asia, causing a blanket of darkness that spanned 18 months —leading temperatures to plummet, crops to die and humans to starve to death.

　　在那极其悲惨的一年里，火山喷发出的火山灰进入了欧洲、中东和亚洲，造成了长达18个月的极度黑暗，导致气温骤降、农作物死亡、人类饿死。

　　“It was the beginning of one of the worst periods to be alive, if not the worst year,” Michael McCormick, a historian and archaeologist who chairs the Harvard University Initiative for the Science of the Human Past, told Science Magazine this week.

　　哈佛大学“人类历史科学”倡议的主席，历史学家和考古学家迈克尔.麦考密克本周在接受《科学杂志》采访时说:“这如果不是最糟糕的年份的话，也是人类史上某个最糟糕时期的开始。”

　　Historians have long been puzzled by the mysterious black, ashen clouds that settled over the world in the middle of the sixth century.

　　历史学家们长期以来一直对6世纪中叶在全世界出现的一种神秘的、灰白色的乌云感到困惑不解。

　　But a paper published last week in the journal Antiquities indicates a massive volcanic eruption in Iceland triggered the months of darkness. Two more eruptions in 540 and 547 would also contribute ash to the cloud.

　　但上周发表在《古物》杂志上的一篇论文指出，冰岛的一次大规模火山喷发引发了持续数月的黑暗。540年和547年的另外两次喷发也让云层布满了火山灰。

　　The ash blocked out the sun, ushering cold temperatures. In the summer of 536, snow fell on China as temperatures dipped between 34 and 36 degrees, initiating the coldest decade in the past 2,300 years.

　　火山灰挡住了阳光，导致了低温。536年的夏天，中国下雪了，气温下降了34到36度，开始了2300年来最冷的十年。

　　Crops failed and people starved. In 541, the bubonic plague — known as the Plague of Justinian — rapidly wiped out one-third to one-half of the population of the Eastern Roman Empire, hastening its collapse.

　　农作物歉收，人们挨饿。公元541年，腺鼠疫，即查士丁尼瘟疫迅速夺走东罗马帝国三分之一到一半的人口，加速了它的灭亡。