Skies darkened, temperatures plunged, crops failed, and disease and famine ensued. These and other strange phenomena afflicted people around the world in 1816, known as "The Year without a Summer." We now know that the great eruption of Mount Tambora, in Indonesia, the previous year had triggered these changes. With Mount Tambora rumbling again this month, are we about to experience another global catastrophe?
© Jialiang Gao /peace-on-earth.orgMount Tambora caldera
Before we answer that, let's examine the 1815 eruption and its remarkable effects. Mount Tambora became restless in 1812 and in April 1815 produced a series of major explosions that peaked on April 10-11. Large ash plumes rose to great heights, and pyroclastic flows swept down the flanks for several days, wiping out entire villages. When the pyroclastic flows reached the sea, they triggered tsunamis that further devastated the surrounding areas.
The eruption was massive, rated as a 7 on the Volcanic Explosivity Scale of 0-8. By comparison, the volume of magma it erupted was about 40 times greater than that of the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens and 10 times greater than that of the 1991 eruption of Pinatubo.
