Two centuries ago, the Mount Tambora 1815 eruption unfolded in remote Indonesia, fundamentally altering the course of human history. This catastrophe, recognised as the most powerful volcanic explosion in recorded history, didn't just devastate local communities; it triggered a cascade of global consequences. The eruption ejected approximately 60 megatons of sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere, forming sulphate aerosols that acted like a planetary sunscreen and resulted in a volcanic winter. This led to The Year Without a Summer in 1816, which saw global average temperatures drop and middle latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere bearing the brunt of the climatic disruption.

We explore how this single geological event "broke the world":

• Agricultural collapse swept across Europe, leading to famine, massive food price spikes, and widespread social upheaval. Ireland suffered severely, with continuous rainfall destroying potato crops.
• The relentless cold and rain confined Mary Shelley and Lord Byron at the Villa Diodati near Lake Geneva, where Shelley conceived the literary masterpiece, Frankenstein.
• The mass death of horses due to agricultural collapse created a transportation crisis which led German Baron Karl Drais to invent the Laufmaschine (draisine), the precursor to the modern bicycle.
• The disruption of the Asian monsoon system triggered the first global cholera pandemic of the modern era, which eventually spread across continents, shaping public health for decades.
• The economic fallout contributed to the Panic of 1819 in the United States.

The legacy of Tambora demonstrates both humanity's profound vulnerability to environmental disruption and our extraordinary capacity for adaptation and innovation. Join us to understand how this 19th-century catastrophe provides crucial insights into volcanic risk and climate anxiety in our contemporary, hyper-connected world.

Read more: https://theurb.co/year-without-summer