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The year 2016 marks the 200th anniversary of the year without a summer caused by the 1815 Tambora eruption. Today it may be celebrated for its effects on art and literature, but it also resulted in famine and suffering around the globe. While the biggest volcanic eruptions – including large igneous provinces like the Siberian Traps – are known to be linked to climate upheaval and even mass extinctions, emerging work shows that under the right conditions, smaller eruptions or series of eruptions can also affect climate. This collection explores the historical records of climate and ecological change associated with volcanic activity, as well as the factors that control the climate effects of an eruption.
Volcanic eruptions can release large amounts of climatically active gases. An emerging view stresses the role of the size and chemical composition of the plume, including its water content, in controlling the climatic effects of an eruption.
The 1815 eruption of Tambora caused an unusually cold summer in much of Europe in 1816. The extreme weather led to poor harvests and malnutrition, but also demonstrated the capability of humans to adapt and help others in worse conditions.
Recent observed global warming is significantly less than that simulated by climate models. This difference might be explained by some combination of errors in external forcing, model response and internal climate variability.
200 years after the eruption of Mount Tambora, the eruption volume remains poorly known, as is true for other volcanic eruptions over past millennia. We need better records of size and occurrence if we are to predict future large eruptions more accurately.
The rise and fall of civilizations over the past two millennia was set against a backdrop of climate change. High-resolution climate records evince a link between societal change and a period of cooling in the sixth and seventh centuries.