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Paleoclimate
What else has caused past climate changes?
Volcanoes
An example of a volcano that strongly affected climate for a few years is Mount
Tambora. In 1815, 13,000-foot Tambora in Indonesia erupted, sending 100 cubic
kilometers of material into the atmosphere. It is the largest eruption in
recorded history. Estimates of people killed by the immediate eruption are
hard to come by, since the entire population of people living nearby was killed.
In the years following the eruption, thousands of people died of starvation, and
perhaps as many as 92,000 people lost their lives because of the eruption.
Sulfate and other aerosols were blown into the stratosphere, and eventually circulated around the Northern Hemisphere. The following summer was particularly cold, causing people to refer to 1816 as "the year without a summer." There were major snowstorms in June in Pennsylvania, and rivers remained iced over through the winter. Crops were killed by frosts in July and August.
It was a powerful example of the effect of volcanoes on climate, especially when the climate was already relatively cool to start with.
Next page -> how do we know about ice ages
Links and resources
What else has caused past climate changes?
Volcanoes
An example of a volcano that strongly affected climate for a few years is Mount
Tambora. In 1815, 13,000-foot Tambora in Indonesia erupted, sending 100 cubic
kilometers of material into the atmosphere. It is the largest eruption in
recorded history. Estimates of people killed by the immediate eruption are
hard to come by, since the entire population of people living nearby was killed.
In the years following the eruption, thousands of people died of starvation, and
perhaps as many as 92,000 people lost their lives because of the eruption.Sulfate and other aerosols were blown into the stratosphere, and eventually circulated around the Northern Hemisphere. The following summer was particularly cold, causing people to refer to 1816 as "the year without a summer." There were major snowstorms in June in Pennsylvania, and rivers remained iced over through the winter. Crops were killed by frosts in July and August.
It was a powerful example of the effect of volcanoes on climate, especially when the climate was already relatively cool to start with.
Next page -> how do we know about ice ages
Links and resources
