[MUSIC PLAYING] In 1816 our planet
experienced one of the earliest recorded
instances of global climate change. It all started with the 1815
eruption of Indonesia's Mount Tambora. Which spurred droughts and
crop failures, altered weather systems, triggered disease,
and destabilized regimes. So today we're going to take
a look at why 1816 is known as the year without a summer. But before we get started,
be sure to subscribe to the Weird History channel. And let us know in the
comments below what other historical disasters
you would like to hear about. OK. Let's take a look at
this historical bummer of a summer, bro. Mount Tambora, also
known as Tomboro, is located in West
Nusa Tenggara, in the northern part of Sumbawa
on one of the Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia. It's 1815 eruption
is the largest recorded volcanic
eruption in human history. With some scientists
believing it to be four to 10 times as mighty
as the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883. In the aftermath
the world faced one of its most significant and
challenging geological events. However, a while
passed before the world felt Tambora's effect. During this time, Europe was
reeling from the Napoleonic Wars. The United States was
constructing a new nation. And the Chinese Qing
dynasty was pursuing an aggressive resettlement plan. As the enormous ash plume
made its way across the world it put additional pressure
on all of these situations. And wreaked havoc on
entire communities. The event began with an initial
eruption on April 5, 1815. Despite its moderate
size, this first eruption was accompanied by
a detonation sound so loud it could be heard
nearly 900 miles away. The following day volcanic
ash began to fall in Java. And additional eruptive
noises, similar to the sound of guns being fired, could be
heard a full 6,500 miles away on Sumatra. By that night, columns of
flame rose into the sky. And Mount Tambora itself
was covered by fire. Pumice rained down from the sky. And lava flowed down all sides
of the volcano to the sea. Completely destroying
the village of Tambora. Analysts disagree on an exact
number of lives lost due to Mount Tambora's eruption. However, even the most
conservative estimates suggest around 10,000 people
perished from pyroclastic flows during the initial eruption. And another 70,000 passed
in the subsequent months from disease and hunger. To drive home the fact that
the eruption was the largest volcanic event in
modern history, the 1815 burst garnered a
volcanic explosive index of seven on a scale
that goes up to eight. Spinal Tap would be
mildly impressed. In modern times,
we're constantly hearing about and,
indeed, beginning to see the effects
of global warming. But back in 1816, the
eruption of Mount Tambora caused a similarly troublesome
bout of global cooling to the tune of 3 degrees. Though a 3 degree
temperature drop may not sound particularly profound,
this change in weather actually had wide-reaching
consequences. The ash cloud generated
by the volcano made its way to
the stratosphere. Reflecting incoming sunlight
and cooling the Earth. The wind disrupted
weather systems and increased
rainfall across much of the northern hemisphere. Europe, China, and
even North America all experienced below average
temperatures that year. And entire harvests were ruined. Switzerland saw an ice dam form
in the middle of the summer. And China and India
documented disruptions to the monsoons,
which caused flooding. As regular viewers
of Weird History might know from our 2020 video
on a timeline of the potato famine that changed
Ireland forever, the most widely-known
Irish potato famine occurred between 1845 and 1849. However, many primary sources
insist a different series of potato famines
affected the country in the 18th and 19th centuries. These earlier
famines are believed to be caused by Mount
Tambora's eruption, which caused an eight week long
rainy period in Ireland. As a result, local crops
failed and famine ensued. Leading to a typhus
epidemic from 1816 to 1819. Roughly 100,000 people perished. The eruption of Mount
Tambora didn't just bring killer
famines in its wake. To everyone's surprise and
probably, no one's joy, it also led to a new
strain of cholera. This more deadly
form of the disease had mutated due to
the Bay of Bengals altered weather patterns and the
chemical changes in the soil. The population couldn't
fight the microbe that targeted the immune
system and the sickness quickly traveled all over Asia. By the century's end the entire
world felt cholera's effects. While the exact number of people
who died from the new cholera isn't known, it easily
claimed the lives of millions. At the height of his
power Napoleon Bonaparte seemed unstoppable. He cut a swath across Europe. And until his
defeat at Waterloo, which we also
covered in a video, he held brief dominion
over most of the continent. But as bad as
Napoleon's conquest was the eruption of
Mount Tambora proved even more disruptive to Europe. The eruption caused ash, rain,
and freezing temperatures to circulate throughout
the continent. Hardly anyone was prepared
for these effects. And food stores were low. As the strife disrupted
agricultural processes many European nations
found themselves having to rely on
American imports to avoid widespread starvation. While the eruption
affected people globally, the most dramatic consequences
occurred closer to the volcano. For instance, the annual
Indian monsoon slowed down. Leading to a dizzying
array of effects, like the aforementioned
cholera epidemic that started in Bengal. Mount Tambora also emitted a
substantial amount of sulfate. According to historian
Gillen D'Arcy Wood, "The massive load
of sulfate gases Tambora injected into
the stratosphere produced an aerial dust cloud consisting
of up to 100 cubic kilometers of debris. This great sun-obscuring
plume then circled the Earth at the equator in
a matter of weeks before drifting pole-ward." He also said that
this plume would have, "played havoc with the
world's major weather systems for almost three years." Interestingly, one
place the volcano failed to affect a massive
drop in temperature was in the Arctic. In fact, a strange
conflux ended up forcing warm winds northward. Arctic ice melted and
formed new pathways into the uncharted
frozen landscape. The British Navy, hoping
to find a northern passage, prepared multiple
Arctic expeditions. Taking advantage of the
shifting weather patterns to cut through the frozen
territory no one had previously been able to navigate does
sound like a great idea. But it didn't quite work out. The first of these
expeditions, launched in 1818 and headed by Captain John
Ross, arrived in the North only to find that weather
patterns had stabilized and their potential
path had disappeared. However, in the following
years, British explorers and other nations continued
to launch Arctic journeys. Like most of the world,
China's Yunnan province faced extreme consequences
because of the Mount Tambora effect. Unseasonable cold
weather and rain disrupted the annual rice crop. And desperate farmers
turned to poppies. A more reliable crop
that, as most people know, is chiefly used
to produce opium. As one of the defining economic
conflicts of the 1800s, the Chinese opium trade
resulted in major rebellions that took thousands of lives. It also birthed the modern
golden triangle of heroin production in Southeast Asia. While scholars have
yet to concretely prove that Thomas Jefferson
had realized a commonality between
the collapse of his crops and the eruption
at Mount Tambora, he certainly felt the
volcano's effects. In 1816 Jefferson had
retired from the presidency and taken to farming
in Monticello. Newspapers from that year
report that on account of the cold weather,
most farmers in Virginia were facing crops that
were one half to 2/3 short. And Jefferson's harvest
was no exception. Like many farmers
in the United States Jefferson is known to have
faced deep financial peril in the year without a summer. In fact, his failed
weed crops compelled him to apply for a
loan to make ends meet The effects of the
eruption weren't all bad. In fact, from the point of
view of literary horror fans, the eruption helped birth
one of the all-time greatest works of genre fiction. You see, in the summer of
1816, Mary Godwin and her soon to be husband,
Percy Shelley, traveled with a
few close friends to Lake Geneva for vacation. When the bad weather, a direct
result of the eruption at Mount Tambora, trapped them
indoors, they spent their time sharing ghost stories. Lord Byron challenged Mary
to tell a scary ghost story. She demurred. Later that night
she couldn't sleep and received a vision that she
later described in writing. According to the author
herself, "I saw with shut eyes, but acute mental vision. I saw the pale student of
unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he
had put together. I saw the hideous phantasm
of a man stretched out. And then, on the working
of some powerful engine, show signs of life." Mary's vision prompted
her to compose the novel, Frankenstein. Which still stands today is one
of the most famous books ever written. Worth mentioning
is that while Mary may have won the
scary story contest, don't feel bad for Lord Byron. His relatively short entry
was called, The Vampyre. And today, it's
widely considered to be the first story in
the now wildly popular genre about romantic vampires. Everything from
Dracula to Twilight owes its existence
to Byron's vampire. So you could say if it
wouldn't have been for a year without a summer, we wouldn't
have Frankenstein or Dracula. While Mary Shelley was
making literary history, things weren't
going quite as well for everyone else in the arts. In fact, brilliant young
composer Franz Schubert was facing more than a
few challenges in 1816. His hero, Goethe, rebuffed
him and he only received one commission the entire year. While that's more than
enough reason for him to be bummed out,
some music historians believe Schubert's
melancholy output was a direct result of seasonal
affective disorder, brought on by the dark summer of 1816. That being said, while
the unusual weather may have depressed the
musician, it certainly didn't slow him down any. During 1816 Schubert composed
two symphonies and a variety of other musical works,
including chorals, leader, and chamber music. Planet Earth is home
to an estimated 20 active super volcanoes. These massive magma deposits
have incredible capabilities and some landforms could
prove more powerful than Mount Tambora. And while we don't mean
to put anyone on edge, it's a fact that most
super volcanoes could erupt at literally, any
time without a trigger or earthquake. These lava missions only occur
about once every 100,000 years and can significantly
impact the climate. So there's something
to look forward to. I guess. So what do you think? What's the closest
volcano to you? Let us know in the
comments below. And while you're at it, check
out some of these other videos from our Weird History.
