The 60-Megaton Cloud That Dimmed the Sun

Name: The 60-Megaton Cloud That Dimmed the Sun
Genre: Documentary

Tambora’s sulfur escapes the island, spreads through the atmosphere and transforms a local eruption into a global climate shock.

This episode needs All Access, from $4.99 a week.

Transcript

In July, snow fell across New England in what should have been summer.
Mount Tambora is located on Sumbawa in present-day Indonesia.
Before 1815, Tambora was one of Indonesia’s tallest mountains, rising 14,100 feet.
Tambora grew restless in 1812, then began rumbling April 5th, 1815.
The first explosions were initially mistaken for distant cannon fire.
The Rajah of Sanggar witnessed Tambora’s eruption as it unfolded.
The mountain appeared like liquid fire.
On April 10th, three eruption plumes rose and merged.
Pyroclastic flows swept through villages to the sea, triggering tsunamis.
Tambora lost its 13,100-foot peak, forming a caldera 4 miles wide, 4 miles, or 6 kilometers.
The eruption sent 60 megatons of sulfur high into air.
Ash reached the stratosphere, reducing incoming sunlight at Earth’s surface.
Ash reached 800-plus miles northwest of Tambora, or 1,300 kilometers.
By 1816, global cooling created “the Year Without a Summer,” frost destroying crops.
Near Lake Geneva, cold rain kept Mary Shelley indoors writing Frankenstein.
In Indonesia, a Banyuwangi account said candles were needed by 1 p.m.
By 4 p.m., the account said it was pitch dark.
In 2004, scientists found a buried village and two adults under 10 feet, or 3 meters of ash.

When the sulfur veil reached the summer of 1816, warmth vanished—and crops began freezing in the fields.

All Access is $4.99 a week, $14.99 a month or $39.99 a year. The annual plan starts with three days free.

Renews until you cancel. Terms · Privacy