How world history was changed by a natural event that influenced the weather. 17/7/24
1789-99 The French Revolution The overthrow of the one longest standing monarchies in the world.
1812 The revolution ended with a global war under Napoleon that ended with his disastrous invasion of Russia.
1814 Napoleon was forced to abdicate and exiled on the island of Elba.
1815 March. Napoleon escaped from Elba and troops sent to arrest him joined him and Louis XVIII fled from Paris.
1815 June Napoleon war free 100 days before the Battle of Waterloo and sent into exile in St. Helena.
Under these circumstances few took note of the natural disaster at the other end of the world. The island of Sumbawa in the Indian Ocean in the Dutch East Indies, today is part of Indonesia, however the 170,000 population did not speak Malay but a Khmer language like Cambodia. This area produced sappanwood a flowering plant for red dye and sandalwood for fragrance. Mount Gunung Tambora (14,000 feet high) had been dormant for 1000 years. In 1815 April 5th a cataclysmic explosion was heard in Batavia( present Jakarta) 1,200 kilometers away. This explosion was equivalent to a number of nuclear bombs. Vast quantities of ash , sulfur, chlorine and fluorine spewed out. The volcanic ash reduced the amount of sunshine reaching the earth.
From the flows and tsunamis that followed 10,000 of Subbawa population died and 35,000 homes in the surrounding area were destroyed. Some places had 1.2 meters deep of ash. The first rice harvest on Sumbawa was only in 1820.
Islands like Lombok and Bali had 30 centimeter of ash and poisoned fields and livestock. and starvation and disease followed. Eastern part of Java and the south of Borneo and Celebes. Shipping lanes were blocked by dense rafts of floating pumice. Tambora was more than 10,000 km away and this information was slow to get to Europe.
1883 the Krakatoa eruption was far smaller but got to Europe via telegraph lines. Tambora was the largest volcanic eruption ever recorded. Between 1800 and 1820 a string of eruption contributed to a series of cool summers. 1815 would have long term effects on everyone on earth.
1815 King Louis XVIII was restored to the throne with Napoleon now in St. Helena. At the same time America was no longer under threat of British invasion and saw new prosperity and expansion. Winter came early and the Adriatic coast of Italy saw snow greater than any one could remember. Early 1816 people notices sunspots on the moon which are produced by magnetic field normally these were not visible to the naked eye.
In the USA winter was mild 3 C warmer than average. Only in spring 1816 people aware the climate would be far from ordinary.
There is a recognized phenomenon volcanic winter deposits of quantities of sulfur aerosols and volcanic ash in the outer atmosphere. We have evidence of Mount Tabo, Sumatra 75,000 years ago resulting in a drop of 5C that lasted many years and came close to wiping out human civilization.
Three major eruptions occurred between 1812 and 1814 La Soufriere Caribbean ,Mount Awu , Sangiha island, Indonesia, Mount Mayon Philippines these all deposited some ash in the outer atmosphere. These would have caused cool summers and Europe was aware of colorful sunrises and sunsets.
1815 April Mount Tambora resulted in a change in global weather patterns. After the long artic night the high pressure no longer held back the extreme northern cold from reaching North America and the cold moved south.
Thomas Jefferson " Early cold has killed the fruits and crops of tobacco and wheat will be poor"
1816 Was the first year of peace in Europe for more than a decade and after the Napoleonic wars there were large numbers of demobilized soldiers. Many European nations were heavily in debt. Large quantities of grain had been needed to feed large armies and few countries had stockpiles of food left. The wars had led to high food prices. Suddenly the demand by the armies fell. In Britain Corn laws kept out cheaper imported grains.
With storms , high rainfall and little sunshine, crops failed across Europe. In Britain, France and Germany inundation and floods destroyed large areas of farming. In Ireland the grain and potato crops were destroyed and peat could not be dried to burn to provide heat and cooking.
1817 These conditions led to lice and contagious typhoid. Across Europe the death rates were 50%higher than the last year of the Napoleonic Wars. People attempted to flee to North America. About 60,000 left ports in between 1816 and 1817. For the first time Government realized that the responsibility of rule included taking charge of the welfare of people. Scientist tried to explain the abnormally cold and wet summer, some as the electrical fluid in the earth. Generally they agreed on the earthquakes that had taken place in 1812-13.
1818 Famine and deprivation continued till then.
1883 Krakatoa , it was only after this large eruption that scientists began to study the connection between large eruptions and climate.
1913 American physicist Willian Jackson Humphreys made a direct connection between Tambora and the Year With out Summer.
1776 American Independence then it took 40 years and America was headed to peace and prosperity. But Britain still hoped to take back control of US territory resulting in the 1812 War. With the British blockading of US trade.
1814 British burning of Washington City. 1814 December war ended with the treaty of Ghent.
1816 Freezing temperatures moved down from Canada killing fruit tree and frozen ground resulted in corn crops of Vermont and Main failed. Even in June there was a cold front. farmers used corn to keep cattle alive. Many herds were now slaughtered. In August there was another cold front. People started boiling nettles and weeds to keep alive.
Shortage of food in the US did not lead to diseases as were seen throughout Europe. The US population was only 7 to 8 million as they had vast lands Europe excluding Russia had 120 Million.
1816 the US Comprised of 18 States on the Eastern Seaboard. President James Monroe came to power and Congress took measures to boost prosperity. The Midwest had been affected less by the bitter cold and this led to a large wave of migration with a population expansion there. There was a perception of better weather there and the Midwest became the most important agricultural area.
China Taiwan a tropical area had snow and in 1815 half the rice crop was destroyed, again in 1816 and even in 1817. Famine resulted in epidemic of disease. The vast amount of food held by the dynasty were insufficient and pirate and bandit groups emerged. The lucrative opium crop and a series of Internal wars the Xinjing wars. Where from this time the dynasty get involved in the muslim Uyghurs.
The Quing Dynasty saw a decline in their power, and China suffered military defeats in the Opium Wars ceding trading rights and territory to Britain , France and US.
India the monsoon cycle was delayed and arrived at the end of summer ,when they arrived caused widespread flooding. Chenai saw freezing temperatures. This resulted in a vast population movement within India. The first time the Cholera pandemic was noted and started in Bengal and spread to China , Philippines , Japan , Siam, Korea , Tibet and reached Syrian in 1820.
Europe saw the establishment of some form of constitutional monarchies. People began to demand more involvement of government and this led to ordinary people demanding a greater voice.
Lord Byron began work on a masterpieces "Darkness" about the world in catastrophic change "Seasonless, herbless , treeless, manless , lifeless perhaps even heralding the end of the world. Vampiric started a series if vampire fiction. Mary married Percy Shelley in 1816 and brought out Frankenstein , the first horror novel.
There are 13000 volcanoes around the world. In volcanology the longer the wait the bigger the explosion. Perhaps the reduction in ice cover over volcanoes may lead to increased magma. Modern technology may help us predict an eruption. Panic buying could exacerbate shortages and deplete reserves.
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