Tim Sparrow

UW Team Builder and Bill Reducer. Ex teacher (now safely back in society.) Climber, mountaineer, kayak-fisherman cyclist woodturner and parent. Dreamer!

[Tim Sparrow @tspadger]

@BrianHayes757 @springsteen Caught most of us out that night with that

[Tim Sparrow @tspadger]

@robjlloyd @SonatineEdition @Editions_Jailu There's poche for you.

[Tim Sparrow @tspadger]

@HighBanana How very British. Soaking wet and things can only get better ....

[Tim Sparrow @tspadger]

@thealpineclub Ooh, I took that!
Awesome place.

[Adam Sharp @AdamCSharp]

English weather is wet
German weather is Wetter

English kids are kind
German kids are Kinder

English mothers mumble
German mothers Mutter

The English shout the word people
But Germans just quietly Menschen it

And English sausages can be bad
But a German sausage is the Wurst

[Tim Sparrow @tspadger]

@MarkWaun Mighty!

[Sabrina de Groot @sabrinadegroot]

The real Boss @ Bruce @springsteen #JohanCruijffArena concert yesterday. A group of deaf people stood next to us. This interpreter made sure, these people had the day of their life! #brucespringsteen

[Tim Sparrow @tspadger]

@MarkWaun @parkrunUK So in sync with each other ...

[Tim Sparrow @tspadger]

@SpringNuts_ @springsteen Head phones on. Volume up. Lost in my own flood.

[Science girl @sciencegirl]

TURAN, ethno folk music ensemble singing this song without any instruments

[Tim Sparrow @tspadger]

@who_gallery Wow. And wow again

[Tim Sparrow @tspadger]

@ChrisGPackham @vizcomic You are a right dodgy fella Chris .... so it must have been you!

[Tim Sparrow @tspadger]

@MarkWaun @RC_Archive @RC_Survey @RCAHMWales @eryrinpa @ArchiveHashtag @explorearchives @Toby_Driver1 Turn it 90deg right, its a giant eel with a short dorsal fin.

Similarly, looked at it for years and wondered about it. The peat sled idea just didnt quite fit ...

[RareBirdAlertUK @RareBirdAlertUK]

Have you heard the one where the pigeon walks into a Peregrine nest...😀

[Tim Sparrow @tspadger]

@SkipjackUK @MetLifeStadium Epic!

[Tim Sparrow @tspadger]

@RpsAgainstTrump Proud to be a triploid borg as i have had 3 different vaccines. At least I am.unlikely to breed again if triploid. And old!

[Historic Vids @historyinmemes]

2020 was a terrible year, but it's still far from being the worst in recorded human history. Here are a few bad ones:

1349 was the peak of the Black Death, which killed an estimated 75 to 200 million people in Europe, Eurasia, and North Africa. It is considered the deadliest pandemic in human history.

1520 was when smallpox spread across the Americas, killing an estimated 90% of the Indigenous population. It is estimated that 25 to 55 million people perished.

1918 was when the influenza pandemic killed an estimated 50 million people across the globe. As many as 500 million people were infected.

These were all terrible years, but many historians believe that the absolute worst was 536 AD. According to medieval historian, Michael McCormick, "It was the beginning of one of the worst periods to be alive, if not the worst year."

So what exactly happened in 536?

Well for starters, a volcano erupted in Iceland, which dimmed the sun for 18 months, causing temperatures to decrease by 1.5 to 2.5 degrees Celsius. This led to the coldest decade (536 to 545) in 2,000 years, leading to crop failures and mass starvations in Europe, Mesopotamia, and China.

In 540 there was another volcanic eruption, this time in Ilopango, El Salvador, which killed tens of thousands of people and decreased global temperatures once again.

In 541, the Plague of Justinian began to spread throughout the Mediterranean Basin and would kill 35 to 55% of the population. The plague would greatly weaken the Byzantine Empire after devastating its capital, Constantinople.

The natural disasters, crop failures, and the plague would go on to decimate Europe's economy, which would not recover until 640, more than a century later. Ice core records show that in 640, there was a spike in atmospheric lead pollution which was the result of an increase in silver mining. Silver is found in lead-rich galena ores. During this time, periods of prosperity almost always coincided with increases in lead emissions.

Keep in mind that this is just from recorded history. Imagine all the crazy stuff that happened in prehistory, including population bottlenecks, which reduced the human population to just tens of thousands of people. We could have easily gone extinct on a number of occasions.

[Tim Sparrow @tspadger]

@MarkWaun https://t.co/Z7XeMQSQtR

[Historic Vids @historyinmemes]

2020 was a terrible year, but it's still far from being the worst in recorded human history. Here are a few bad ones:

1349 was the peak of the Black Death, which killed an estimated 75 to 200 million people in Europe, Eurasia, and North Africa. It is considered the deadliest pandemic in human history.

1520 was when smallpox spread across the Americas, killing an estimated 90% of the Indigenous population. It is estimated that 25 to 55 million people perished.

1918 was when the influenza pandemic killed an estimated 50 million people across the globe. As many as 500 million people were infected.

These were all terrible years, but many historians believe that the absolute worst was 536 AD. According to medieval historian, Michael McCormick, "It was the beginning of one of the worst periods to be alive, if not the worst year."

So what exactly happened in 536?

Well for starters, a volcano erupted in Iceland, which dimmed the sun for 18 months, causing temperatures to decrease by 1.5 to 2.5 degrees Celsius. This led to the coldest decade (536 to 545) in 2,000 years, leading to crop failures and mass starvations in Europe, Mesopotamia, and China.

In 540 there was another volcanic eruption, this time in Ilopango, El Salvador, which killed tens of thousands of people and decreased global temperatures once again.

In 541, the Plague of Justinian began to spread throughout the Mediterranean Basin and would kill 35 to 55% of the population. The plague would greatly weaken the Byzantine Empire after devastating its capital, Constantinople.

The natural disasters, crop failures, and the plague would go on to decimate Europe's economy, which would not recover until 640, more than a century later. Ice core records show that in 640, there was a spike in atmospheric lead pollution which was the result of an increase in silver mining. Silver is found in lead-rich galena ores. During this time, periods of prosperity almost always coincided with increases in lead emissions.

Keep in mind that this is just from recorded history. Imagine all the crazy stuff that happened in prehistory, including population bottlenecks, which reduced the human population to just tens of thousands of people. We could have easily gone extinct on a number of occasions.

[Melaine Le Roy @subfossilguy]

A 700 m3 rock avalanche occurred at 5.15pm in Le Freney (Maurienne Valley, France) 😳 🪨
The boulders crashed into the protective wall that had been put in place to prevent such events.
A43 highway is closed.
https://t.co/h3TKPlQeFa