Volcano Tambora erupted (1815) 208 years ago, one of the greatest explosions in history

In April 1815 on the Indonesian island of Sumbawa occurred the eruption of the volcano Tambora, a natural event of enormous scope, still known today as one of the most powerful and destructive volcanic eruptions that are remembered in historical memory, a few other events that had a similar impact on the territory and in the collective memory. Tambora broke out after a quiet period of several hundred years. The resumption of a new eruptive cycle was foreshadowed by a period of almost three years during which several minor eruptions occurred. On the evening of April 5, a series of very strong explosions ripped through the volcanic building, the eruptive column reached a height of 33 kilometers and the ashes spread over huge distances in the surrounding territory.

A few days of calm followed, before a new massive eruption on the evening of April 10, with the development of a new Plinian eruptive column up to 40 km high. The numerous pyroclastic flows destroyed the neighboring villages and the deposition of ash of at least 1 cm thickness occupied an area of 980000 square kilometers. The eruption stopped after about 24 hours, the evening of April 11, 1815 the activity could be said to have finally ended. Approximately 40 cubic kilometres of volcanic material are estimated to have erupted. The top of the volcano collapsed, creating an enormous caldera.

IMPLICATIONS FOR EUROPE'S CLIMATE.

The eruption had emitted huge quantities of volcanic dust and sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere that filtered the sun’s rays for at least two years, affecting the climate of the entire planet. On Europe 1816 was the year without summer, excessively low summer temperatures and copious rainfall caused serious damage to agriculture, crops grew too slowly and in some cases did not even reach maturity. In two years, grain prices in the U.S. and Europe have doubled.

There has been a major crisis on the continent, with starvation and food shortages which have debilitated the population, making people vulnerable to the spread of the disease. It has been described as the worst livelihood crisis in the western world from historic times to the present. 

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