For Module 3’s blog I have decided to find an article written in the past, about an event that took place 200 years ago. The event that my article is about is the eruption of Mount Tambora, which is now located in Indonesia. This eruption took place in April of 1815. The article goes into great detail discussing the global effects of the volcanic eruption that was 100 times greater than that of Mount St. Helens. The eruption killed 100,000 local people of Sumbawa, but the effects did not stop there. The following two years were cold ones for the rest of the world. The Germans called it “the year of the beggar,” while the New Englanders coined it “eighteen hundred and froze to death”. The particles from the eruption were transported well above rain carrying clouds, and therefore acted as a reflector for the sun. The cloud of ash reflected large amounts of sunlight that were trying to reach the Earth’s surface, which created a global cooling to occur in the years to follow.

The effects of the eruption were not only seen in the climate but also in the art during the time period. During the year of 1816, Mary Shelley concocted the story of Frankenstein which was the published in 1818. Vampires also became increasingly popular in literature and stories as well as darker themed stories. There were many paintings that focused on the brilliant sunsets during the time, but little did the artists know that those sunsets were a product of the clouds of ash miles above.

The severe climate changes included, a change in the monsoon of 1817 and extensive rains that led to a cholera outbreak in India which then spread to the Dutch East Indies. This epidemic killed hundreds of thousands. Summers were cooler all over the globe, resulting in a shortage of crops and an increase in hunger. This volcanic eruption did not just effect one area, it produced a domino-effect of global issues for nearly two years. These outcomes can help scientists further predict how change in climate will, in fact, change humanity as well.

References:

Broad, William J. “A Volcanic Eruption That Reverberates 200 Years Later.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 24 Aug. 2015. Web. 04 Feb. 2016. <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/25/science/mount-tambora-volcano-eruption-1815.html>.