The Year Without A Summer

The Year Without A Summer


        Over centuries ago in 1815, Mount Tambora located in Indonesia erupted in one of the world's most powerful volcanic eruptions. This resulted in thousands of deaths on the island of Sumbawa.


1816 became known as “The year without a summer”  because suddenly unusually cold, wet conditions swept Europe and North America. The cold temperatures of 1816 would not have been possible if it was not for the eruption of Mount Tambora. The volcanic eruption claimed 10,000 lives either directly killing the victims or indirectly by the tsunamis the eruption created. An additional 80,000 people died from disease that spread.
The eruption pumped out an incredible amount of sulfur into the stratosphere, which oxidized and created sulfate aerosols. These volcanic aerosols reduce net shortwave radiation causing; widespread, long-lasting surface cooling. Reduction in global rainfall changes in the large-scale circulation of both ocean and atmosphere. Those Sulfate Aerosols caused the long term surface cooling, which caused the global temperature to drop a whopping three degrees Celsius.
The Ash and gas spewed into the atmosphere blocked out sunlight or sun altogether for more than an entire year. 1816 broke the record for being the coldest year in the last 250 years. Mostly affected Asia, Europe, and North America Crop and agricultural failure causes the price of food to jump across the globe and death of livestock and world wide famine.
Heavy snowfall and frost persisted through the summer months of 1816 destroying most of the crops in Asia North America and Europe. As famine takes hold, the livestock dies in masses and the people begin to follow soon after. 
Different types of illness spread and the sulfur in the air causes lung infections. The monsoon season is altered causing flooding in china and droughts in Africa. The widespread starvation caused thousands around the world to migrate.