This week’s weather put me in mind of the Year Without a Summer. In 1816, the entire world experienced a massive, year-long cold snap. Europe, the United States and much of Asia experienced year-long frosts, snowfalls and frigid weather, making it nearly impossible to harvest crops or maintain normal rhythms of life. The results were predictably tragic: massive famine and starvation, destruction of livestock and climate, outbreaks of disease and one of the modern world’s last true subsistence crises. Scientists believe that the eruption of Mt. Tambora in Sumatra the previous year issued such a great volume of dust into the atmosphere that it altered the climate patterns worldwide.
The History Thread Without a Summer
