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Tambora Erupts in 1815 and Changes World History (2013)

26 points by Thevet 6y ago

dilawar 6y ago
Interesting that one volcano eruption can fluctuate weather patterns so much.
- techdragon 6y ago
  You say “one volcano” as if this wasn’t one of the biggest eruptions in recent human history. To give some perspective... The main eruption was heard as far as 2,600 kilometres away. The estimated energy was more than 4 times that of Krakatoa. Before the eruption it was a mountain 4,300 meters tall. Afterward it had a crater rim with a peak height of 2,850 meters with a crater depth of over 500 meters. It shoved more than a kilometre and a half of mountain into flying debris and produced over 100 cubic kilometres of pyroclastic debris. The eruption lasted for over a month! It also got right back to building a new tiny volcano in the crater in less than 30 years. It’s one hell of an active volcano!
  - chrisco255 6y ago
    Do you know how this compares to some ancient supervolcanic explosions?
    - mikhailfranco 6y ago
      Pull up a map of Sumatra. Zoom in on the big lake in the northern third of the island.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toba_catastrophe_theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toba_catastrophe_theory
  - m463 6y ago
    your description makes me recall a video... https://youtu.be/ncxgQx6AdJc https://youtu.be/ncxgQx6AdJc which was a tiny tiny eruption in comparison. I think some things might be impossible to imagine well.
g_sch 6y ago
I was hoping there was going to be some explanation about how the climactic effects of the eruption influenced events elsewhere in the world. The way the article teed up the story of Napoleon's return certainly made me think it was going in that direction.
- CaptArmchair 6y ago
  Well, in 1783-1784, Iceland saw the Laki eruptions which emitted dozens of megatons of material into the upper atmosphere over a period of 8 months. This impacted many parts of the world and caused extreme weather. The end result was a decade of extreme, deteriorated weather with failed crops and hunger across much of Europe and North America. It is theorized that the eruption was an indirect driver for the French Revolution. [1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidbressan/2015/06/08/this-1783-volcanic-eruption-changed-the-course-of-history/#505988a53c80 https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidbressan/2015/06/08/this-17... [2] https://www.wired.com/2013/06/local-and-global-impacts-1793-laki-eruption-iceland/ https://www.wired.com/2013/06/local-and-global-impacts-1793-...
- floatrock 6y ago
  > In 1816 a remarkable thing happened—there was no summer weather in much of the Northern Hemisphere. This excerpt from The Year without Summer explains why Gotta get the book to read the rest. The wikipedia could give you the sparknotes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_Without_a_Summer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_Without_a_Summer

26 points by Thevet 6y ago

dilawar 6y ago

Interesting that one volcano eruption can fluctuate weather patterns so much.

techdragon 6y ago
You say “one volcano” as if this wasn’t one of the biggest eruptions in recent human history. To give some perspective... The main eruption was heard as far as 2,600 kilometres away. The estimated energy was more than 4 times that of Krakatoa. Before the eruption it was a mountain 4,300 meters tall. Afterward it had a crater rim with a peak height of 2,850 meters with a crater depth of over 500 meters. It shoved more than a kilometre and a half of mountain into flying debris and produced over 100 cubic kilometres of pyroclastic debris. The eruption lasted for over a month! It also got right back to building a new tiny volcano in the crater in less than 30 years. It’s one hell of an active volcano!
- chrisco255 6y ago
  Do you know how this compares to some ancient supervolcanic explosions?
  - mikhailfranco 6y ago
    Pull up a map of Sumatra. Zoom in on the big lake in the northern third of the island.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toba_catastrophe_theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toba_catastrophe_theory
- m463 6y ago
  your description makes me recall a video... https://youtu.be/ncxgQx6AdJc https://youtu.be/ncxgQx6AdJc which was a tiny tiny eruption in comparison. I think some things might be impossible to imagine well.

g_sch 6y ago

I was hoping there was going to be some explanation about how the climactic effects of the eruption influenced events elsewhere in the world. The way the article teed up the story of Napoleon's return certainly made me think it was going in that direction.

CaptArmchair 6y ago
Well, in 1783-1784, Iceland saw the Laki eruptions which emitted dozens of megatons of material into the upper atmosphere over a period of 8 months. This impacted many parts of the world and caused extreme weather. The end result was a decade of extreme, deteriorated weather with failed crops and hunger across much of Europe and North America. It is theorized that the eruption was an indirect driver for the French Revolution. [1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidbressan/2015/06/08/this-1783-volcanic-eruption-changed-the-course-of-history/#505988a53c80 https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidbressan/2015/06/08/this-17... [2] https://www.wired.com/2013/06/local-and-global-impacts-1793-laki-eruption-iceland/ https://www.wired.com/2013/06/local-and-global-impacts-1793-...
floatrock 6y ago
> In 1816 a remarkable thing happened—there was no summer weather in much of the Northern Hemisphere. This excerpt from The Year without Summer explains why Gotta get the book to read the rest. The wikipedia could give you the sparknotes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_Without_a_Summer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_Without_a_Summer