From 5–12 April 1815, Mount Tambora produced one of the most severe volcanic disasters in recorded history. Approximately one hundred thousand people died as a direct or indirect result of the eruption. Volcanic ash reached Europe and North America, which is believed to have contibruted to the climate abnormalities that made 1816 the “year without summer.” This led to dramatic harvest losses and famines, further increasing the number of victims.
Themes:
Further Readings:
- Pfister, Christian. Wetternachhersage: 500 Jahre Klimavariationen und Naturkatastrophen. Bern: Hauptverlag, 1999.
- Zeilinga de Boer, Jelle, and Donald Theodore Sanders. Volcanoes in Human History: The Far-Reaching Effects of Major Eruptions. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004.
Day:
5
Month:
4
Year:
1815