Mount Tambora Eruption

Setting the scene

Mount Tambora in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) erupted on April 10-11, 1815, in the largest volcanic eruption in recorded history. The eruption rated 7 on the Volcanic Explosivity Index, ejecting 160 cubic kilometers of material and creating a caldera 6 kilometers wide. The eruption column reached 43 kilometers high. Pyroclastic flows killed at least 10,000 people on Sumbawa Island immediately, and tsunamis killed thousands more on nearby islands. The total death toll from direct effects was 71,000.

What happened

The eruption's global impact was far greater. It injected massive amounts of sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere, forming sulfate aerosols that reflected sunlight and cooled the planet. 1816 became known as the 'Year Without a Summer'—global temperatures fell 0.4-0.7°C. In New England, snow fell in June; in Europe, cold, wet weather caused crop failures. The resulting famine killed perhaps 100,000 people in Europe and sparked food riots. The eruption also caused spectacular sunsets, documented in paintings by Turner, and may have influenced Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, written during the cold, dark summer of 1816 in Switzerland.

Why it still matters

Tambora demonstrated how a single geological event could alter global climate and human history. It caused the last major subsistence crisis in the Western world and contributed to the first cholera pandemic, as famine-weakened populations were vulnerable. The eruption also spurred scientific study of volcanoes and climate. Modern climate models use Tambora as a case study for 'volcanic winter' scenarios, relevant to understanding nuclear winter and geoengineering. The eruption reminds us of humanity's vulnerability to natural forces beyond our control.

Background

The following year became the year without a summer.