Year Without a Summer 1

Year Without a Summer

Year Without a Summer

1816 summer temperature anomaly with respect to 1971-2000 climatologyVolcano Mount Tambora

Date April 10, 1815

Type Ultra Plinian

Location Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia8°15′S 118°0′E

VEI 7

Impact Caused a volcanic winter that dropped temperatures by 0.4 to 0.7 °C worldwide

The Year Without a Summer (also known as the Poverty Year, Year There Was No Summer, and EighteenHundred and Froze to Death[1]) was 1816, in which severe summer climate abnormalities caused average globaltemperatures to decrease by about 0.4–0.7 °C (0.7–1.3 °F),[2] resulting in major food shortages across the NorthernHemisphere.[3][4] It is believed that the anomaly was caused by a combination of a historic low in solar activity witha volcanic winter event, the latter caused by a succession of major volcanic eruptions capped by the eruption ofMount Tambora, in the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia), the largest known eruption in over 1,300 years.Historian John D. Post has called this "the last great subsistence crisis in the Western world".[5]

DescriptionThe unusual climatic aberrations of 1816 had the greatest effect on the northeastern United States, Atlantic Canada,and parts of western Europe. Typically, the late spring and summer of the northeastern U.S. and southeastern Canadaare relatively stable: temperatures (average of both day and night) average about 20–25 °C (68–77 °F) and rarely fallbelow 5 °C (41 °F). Summer snow is an extreme rarity.In the spring and summer of 1816, a persistent "dry fog" was observed in the northeastern US. The fog reddened anddimmed the sunlight, such that sunspots were visible to the naked eye. Neither wind nor rainfall dispersed the "fog".It has been characterized as a stratospheric sulfate aerosol veil.[6]

In May 1816,[1] frost killed off most of the crops that had been planted, and on 4 June 1816, frosts were reported inConnecticut, and by the following day, most of New England was gripped by the cold front. On 6 June 1816, snowfell in Albany, New York, and Dennysville, Maine.[7] Nearly a foot (30 cm) of snow was observed in Quebec City inearly June, with consequent additional loss of crops—most summer-growing plants have cell walls which ruptureeven in a mild frost. The result was regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality.In July and August, lake and river ice were observed as far south as Pennsylvania. Rapid, dramatic temperature swings were common, with temperatures sometimes reverting from normal or above-normal summer temperatures as high as 35 °C (95 °F) to near-freezing within hours. Even though farmers south of New England did succeed in bringing some crops to maturity, maize and other grain prices rose dramatically. The price of that staple food, oats,[8]

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for example, rose from 12¢ a bushel ($3.40/m³) the previous year to 92¢ a bushel ($26/m³). Those areas sufferinglocal crop failures had to deal with the lack of roads in the early 19th century, preventing any easy importation ofbulky food stuffs.[9]

Cool temperatures and heavy rains resulted in failed harvests in the British Isles as well. Families in Wales traveledlong distances as refugees, begging for food. Famine was prevalent in north and southwest Ireland, following thefailure of wheat, oats, and potato harvests. The crisis was severe in Germany, where food prices rose sharply. Due tothe unknown cause of the problems, demonstrations in front of grain markets and bakeries, followed by riots, arson,and looting, took place in many European cities. It was the worst famine of the 19th century.[7][10]

In China, the cold weather killed trees, rice crops, and even water buffalo, especially in northern China. Floodsdestroyed many remaining crops. Mount Tambora’s eruption disrupted China’s monsoon season, resulting inoverwhelming floods in the Yangtze Valley in 1816. In India the delayed summer monsoon caused late torrentialrains that aggravated the spread of cholera from a region near the River Ganges in Bengal to as far as Moscow.[11]

In New York City, the temperature dropped to -32 °C (-26°F) during the ensuing bitter winter of 1817. This resultedin a freezing of New York's Upper Bay deep enough for horse-drawn sleighs to be driven across Buttermilk Channelfrom Brooklyn to Governors Island.[12]

The effects were widespread and lasted beyond the winter. In eastern Switzerland, the summers of 1816 and 1817were so cool that an ice dam formed below a tongue of the Giétro Glacier high in the Val de Bagnes. In spite of theefforts of the engineer Ignaz Venetz to drain the growing lake, the ice dam collapsed catastrophically in June1818.[13]

CausesIt is now generally thought that the aberrations occurred because of the 1815 (April 5–15) volcanic Mount Tamboraeruption[14][15] on the island of Sumbawa, Indonesia (then part of the Dutch East Indies). The eruption had aVolcanic Explosivity Index ranking of 7, a super-colossal event that ejected immense amounts of volcanic dust intothe upper atmosphere. It was the world's largest eruption since the Hatepe eruption over 1,630 years earlier in AD180. That the 1815 eruption occurred during the middle of the Dalton Minimum (a period of unusually low solaractivity) is also significant.Other large volcanic eruptions (with VEI at least 4) during the same time frame are:• 1812, La Soufrière on Saint Vincent in the Caribbean• 1812, Awu on Sangihe Islands, Indonesia• 1813, Suwanosejima on Ryukyu Islands, Japan• 1814, Mayon in the PhilippinesThese other eruptions had already built up a substantial amount of atmospheric dust. As is common following amassive volcanic eruption, temperatures fell worldwide because less sunlight passed through the atmosphere.

EffectsAs a result of the series of volcanic eruptions, crops in the above-mentioned areas had been poor for several years; the final blow came in 1815 with the eruption of Tambora. Europe, still recuperating from the Napoleonic Wars, suffered from food shortages. Food riots broke out in the United Kingdom and France, and grain warehouses were looted. The violence was worst in landlocked Switzerland, where famine caused the government to declare a national emergency. Huge storms and abnormal rainfall with floodings of the major rivers of Europe (including the Rhine) are attributed to the event, as was the frost setting in during August 1816. A major typhus epidemic occurred in Ireland between 1816 and 1819, precipitated by the famine caused by "The Year Without a Summer". It is estimated that 100,000 Irish perished during this period. A BBC documentary using figures compiled in Switzerland estimated that fatality rates in 1816 were twice that of average years, giving an approximate European fatality total of 200,000

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deaths.New England also experienced great consequences from the eruption of Tambora. The corn crop was grownsignificantly in New England and the eruption caused the crop to fail. It was reported that in the summer of 1816corn ripened so badly that no more than a quarter of it was usable for food. The crop failures in New England,Canada and parts of Europe also caused the price of wheat, grains, meat, vegetables, butter, milk and flour to risesharply.The eruption of Tambora also caused Hungary to experience brown snow. Italy experienced something similar, withred snow falling throughout the year. The cause of this is believed to have been volcanic ash in the atmosphere.In China, unusually low temperatures in summer and fall devastated rice production in Yunnan province in thesouthwest, resulting in widespread famine. Fort Shuangcheng, now in Heilongjiang province, reported fieldsdisrupted by frost and conscripts deserting as a result. Summer snowfall was reported in various locations in Jiangxiand Anhui provinces, both in the south of the country. In Taiwan, which has a tropical climate, snow was reported inHsinchu and Miaoli, while frost was reported in Changhua.[16]

Cultural effects

Hong Kong sunset c. 1992 after the eruption of Mount Pinatubo.

High levels of ash in the atmosphere led to unusuallyspectacular sunsets during this period, a featurecelebrated in the paintings of J. M. W. Turner. It hasbeen theorised that it was this that gave rise to theyellow tinge that is predominant in his paintings suchas Chichester Canal circa 1828. Similar phenomenawere observed after the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa andon the West Coast of the United States following the1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines.

The lack of oats to feed horses may have inspired theGerman inventor Karl Drais to research new ways ofhorseless transportation, which led to the invention ofthe draisine or velocipede. This was the ancestor of the modern bicycle and a step toward mechanized personaltransport.[17]

The crop failures of the “Year without a Summer” may have helped shape the settling of the "American Heartland",as many thousands of people (particularly farm families who were wiped out by the event) left New England forwhat is now western and central New York and the Upper Midwest (then the Northwest Territory) in search of amore hospitable climate, richer soil, and better growing conditions.[18]

Chichester Canal circa 1828 by J. M. W. Turner

According to historian L.D. Stillwell, Vermont aloneexperienced a drop of 10,000 to 15,000 people, erasingseven previous years of population growth.[5] Amongthose who left Vermont were the family of JosephSmith, who moved from Sharon, Vermont, to Palmyra,New York.[19] This move precipitated a series of eventswhich culminated in the publication of the Book ofMormon and the founding of the Church of JesusChrist of Latter-day Saints.[11]

In July 1816 "incessant rainfall" during that "wet, ungenial summer" forced Mary Shelley, John William Polidori, and their friends to stay indoors for much of their Swiss holiday. They decided to have a contest to see who could

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write the scariest story, leading Shelley to write Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus and Polidori to write TheVampyre.[20] In addition, their host, Lord Byron, was inspired to write a poem, Darkness, at the same time.Justus von Liebig, a chemist who had experienced the famine as a child in Darmstadt, later studied plant nutritionand introduced mineral fertilizers.

In popular cultureCello rock band Rasputina wrote the song "1816, the Year Without a Summer" in homage to this event. It is on their2007 album Oh Perilous World.

Comparable events• Toba catastrophe 70,000 to 75,000 years ago.• The 1628–26 BC climate disturbances, usually attributed to the Minoan eruption of Santorini.• The Hekla 3 eruption of about 1200 BC, contemporary with the historical bronze age collapse.• Climate changes of 535–536 have been linked to the effects of a volcanic eruption, possibly at Krakatoa.• An eruption of Kuwae, a Pacific volcano, has been implicated in events surrounding the Fall of Constantinople in

1453.• An eruption of Huaynaputina, in Peru, caused 1601 to be the coldest year in the Northern Hemisphere for six

centuries (see Russian famine of 1601–1603).• An eruption of Laki, in Iceland, caused thousands of fatalities in Europe, 1783–84.• The eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 led to odd weather patterns and temporary cooling in the United States,

particularly in the Midwest and parts of the Northeast. An unusually mild winter and a warm, early spring werefollowed by an unusually cool, wet summer and a cold, early autumn in 1992.

Footnotes[1] Weather Doctor's Weather People and History: Eighteen Hundred and Froze To Death, The Year There Was No Summer (http:/ / www.

islandnet. com/ ~see/ weather/ history/ 1816. htm)[2] Stothers, Richard B. (1984). "The Great Tambora Eruption in 1815 and Its Aftermath". Science 224 (4654): 1191–1198.

Bibcode 1984Sci...224.1191S. doi:10.1126/science.224.4654.1191. PMID 17819476.[3] Saint John New Brunswick Time Date (http:/ / new-brunswick. net/ Saint_John/ timedate. html)[4] The Quebec Chapter of the Canada Country Study Climate Impacts and Adaptation executive summary (http:/ / dsp-psd. communication. gc.

ca/ Collection/ En56-119-3-1997-1E. pdf)[5] Evans, Robert Blast from the Past (http:/ / www. smithsonianmag. com/ history-archaeology/ blast. html), Smithsonian Magazine. July 2002[6] Oppenheimer, Clive (2003). "Climatic, environmental and human consequences of the largest known historic eruption: Tambora volcano

(Indonesia) 1815". Progress in Physical Geography 27 (2): 230–259. doi:10.1191/0309133303pp379ra.[7][7] Oppenheimer 2003[8][8] Oats are a necessary staple in an economy dependent upon horses for primary transportation.[9] John Luther Ringwalt, Development of Transportation Systems in the United States, "Commencement of the turnpike and bridge era",

1888:27 notes that the very first artificial road was the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike, 1792-95, a single route of 62 miles; " it seemsimpossible to ascribe to the turnpike movement in the years before 1810 any significant improvement in the methods of land transportation insouthern New England, or any considerable reduction in the cost of land carriage" (Percy wells Bidwell, "Rural economy in New England", inTransactions of the Connecticut Academy of arts and Sciences, 20 [1916:317]).

[10] "The 'year without a summer' in 1816 produced massive famines and helped stimulate the emergence of the administrative state", observesAlbert Gore, Earth in the Balance: ecology and the human spirit, 2000:79

[11] Facts - Year Without Summer (http:/ / www. yourdiscovery. com/ earth/ year_without_summer/ facts/ index. shtml) Extreme Earth,Discovery Channel

[12] Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace, Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898 (Oxford University Press) 1999:494.[13] The flood is fully described in Jean M. Grove, Little Ice Ages, Ancient and Modern (as The Little Ice Age 1988) rev. ed. 2004:161.[14] Tambora, Indonesian Volcano (Tambora Volcano Part I): Tambora: The Year Without A Summer (http:/ / replay. web. archive. org/

20060615181454/ http:/ / indodigest. com/ indonesia-special-article-19. html) Anthony Tully, Indodigest, archived on June 15 2006 from theoriginal (http:/ / www. indodigest. com/ indonesia-special-article-19. html)

[15] "The Year without a Summer" (http:/ / www. bellrock. org. uk/ misc/ misc_year. htm) Bellrock.org.uk

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[16] Serious Famine in Yunnan (1815-1817) and the Eruption of Tambola Volcano (http:/ / replay. web. archive. org/ 20090326133019/ http:/ /www. igsnrr. ac. cn/ lwzzImg/ 1161151232919. pdf) Fudan Journal (Social Sciences) No. 1 2005, archived on March 26 2009 from theoriginal (http:/ / www. igsnrr. ac. cn/ lwzzImg/ 1161151232919. pdf)

[17] "Brimstone and bicycles" (http:/ / www. newscientist. com/ article/ mg18524841. 900-brimstone-and-bicycles. html) New Scientist, January29 2005

[18] Nettels, Curtis, The emergence of a national economy, M. E. Sharpe, Inc, 1977.[19] Joseph Smith Jr. - Significant Events (http:/ / www. lds. org/ churchhistory/ presidents/ controllers/ potcController. jsp?leader=1&

topic=events)[20] Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Random House. pp. XV–XVI. ISBN 0-679-60059-0.

Additional reading• BBC Timewatch documentary: Year Without Summer, Cicada Films (BBC2, 27 May 2005)• Willie Soon and Steven H.Yaskell:Year without a Summer, Vol. 32, # 3 May / June, Mercury (Astronomical

Society of the Pacific) 2003• Hans-Erhard Lessing: Automobilitaet: Karl Drais und die unglaublichen Anfaenge, Leipzig 2003• Henry & Elizabeth Stommel: Volcano Weather: The Story of 1816, the Year without a Summer, Seven Seas Press,

Newport RI 1983 ISBN 0-915160-71-4•• The Story of the Year of Cold, by Dozier, Lou Zerr Press, 2009

External links• Eighteen Hundred and Froze To Death (http:/ / www. islandnet. com/ ~see/ weather/ history/ 1816. htm)• List of Large Holocene Eruptions (VEI > 4) from the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program (http:/ / www.

volcano. si. edu/ world/ largeeruptions. cfm)

Article Sources and Contributors 6

Article Sources and ContributorsYear Without a Summer  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=474285778  Contributors: 1ForTheMoney, A Softer Answer, A2Kafir, Alansohn, Ali'i, Allens, Alureiter, AnchetaWis, Angr, Angye m, Anonymous from the 21st century, Antandrus, Appelles, Ardfern, Ariel., Astanhope, AstroHurricane001, Atlant, AuntieMormom, AxelBoldt, B00P, BURNyA, Baldhur,Barticus88, Baseball Bugs, Bender235, Bevo, BillDeanCarter, Bletch, Blue Tie, BlueTyson, Bob rulz, Bobblehead, BrainyBabe, Brilang, Bryan Derksen, Capricorn42, Censorwolf, Choster,Chovain, Chris.urs-o, Cst17, Cycotic, DOHC Holiday, Dale Arnett, Danimoth, DavidWBrooks, Dawnseeker2000, Dbenbenn, DecadentPhilistine, Delirium, Demicx, DemonicPartyHat, Dino,Discospinster, Docu, Dominus, Doyley, DrDaveHPP, Drunken Pirate, Dshean, Duke Wellington14, Editor2020, Erik the Pale, Eusebeus, EventHorizon, Excirial, Eyreland, Fabartus, Fataltourist,Flistermash, Francvs, Fredrik, Gabriel Kielland, Gene Nygaard, GeoGreg, GeoWriter, Geologyguy, Gimmetrow, Giorgiogp2, Glane23, Glenfarclas, Gnotsie, Gobonobo, Graham87, GregorB,Griffinofwales, Ground, Gurch, Gustave G., Haein45, Harald Hansen, Hike395, HollyI, Huw Powell, Icairns, Immunize, Interfector, Iridescent, JackyR, Jeffq, Jeffreymcmanus, Jengod, Jimp,Jmg38, Joeyconnick, John, Jonathan O'Donnell, Jonathan W, Julia Rossi, Kaldari, Karel100, Keegan, Kelisi, KellyCoinGuy, Kent Wang, King of Hearts, Kitch, Knuckles, LarRan, LarsHolmberg,Leandrod, Lemming, Lesseps, Llywrch, Lokpest, LorenzoB, Luisldq, MPF, MarnetteD, Martarius, Materialscientist, Mattis, Mervyn, Mexcellent, Michael Devore, Mikeiva, Mikker, Mjpage,Munkee madness, NatureA16, Nethgirb, Nikai, Obradovic Goran, Olegwiki, Olivier, Orangemarlin, Orthorhombic, Palnatoke, Pekinensis, Peter Blaketon, Peterlewis, Philip Trueman, Pinethicket,Pmsyyz, Pollinator, Psinu, Qfl247, RainbowOfLight, Raised leg, Ralphpcarpenter, Ramajois, Ran, Rbonvall, Rd232, RealGrouchy, Redwoodseed, Resident Mario, Rettetast, Rich Farmbrough,Richar4034, RingtailedFox, Rjwilmsi, Rkeene0517, RobertG, Rothorpe, Runningonbrains, RussNelson, Saravask, Scottperry, Scwlong, SevenFound, Shanes, Siffler, Signof4, Silverbead, Smyth,Spettro9, Stephensuleeman, T-rex, Tainter, Tarotcards, Tarquin, Telso, The PIPE, The stuart, The wub, TheBigZzz, Thedanturner, Thegreatdr, Thomaswaiters, TimBentley, Titus III, Tm1729,Tnxman307, Toby Bartels, Tree Biting Conspiracy, Trektosaturday, Trevor MacInnis, Twinsday, Velvetron, VilaWolf, Vkyrt, Volcanoguy, Voyagerfan5761, Voyevoda, Wachholder0, Wetman,Wikid77, Wikipelli, Wjbean, Writtenright, Wuffyz, YUL89YYZ, Yansa, Zacharie Grossen, Zaiken, Zariquiegui, Zoolah, Ασλευ, 281 ,2010 ایلیا anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and ContributorsFile:1816 summer.png  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:1816_summer.png  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0  Contributors: Giorgiogp2Image:Lamma evening4.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Lamma_evening4.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported  Contributors:JackyRImage:Chichester canal jmw turner.jpeg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Chichester_canal_jmw_turner.jpeg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: J.M.W. Turner.Original uploader was Dino at en.wikipedia

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