In answering a subscriber’s question that I received this week, the largest volcanic eruption in modern times was Mt. Tambora in April of 1815 on Sumbawa, an island east of Bali in Indonesia. The blast was 10 times more powerful than the Krakatoa eruption in August of 1883 and 100 times more powerful than the explosion of Mount St. Helens in May of 1980. Mt. Tambora’s eruption produced the energy equivalent to all the nuclear bombs in the world as of January, 2012.
More than 92,000 people lost their lives from the Tambora eruption. Temperatures cooled by 2-3 degrees Fahrenheit in the following 18 months after the massive eruption. The summer of 1816 was so cold in New England that it was called "Eighteen Hundred and Froze to Death," and "The Year Without a Summer." Snow fell during every month of the year in 1816 across Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Many crops were totally destroyed by a series of hard freezes. People actually faced starvation in Vermont, where my wife Sharon and I and Randy and his wife Sally lived between 1995 and 2003 prior to our move to North Idaho a decade ago.
According to Meteorologist Randy Mann, who teaches volcanic processes in his Physical Geography class at North Idaho College each semester, the next biggest eruption that occurred, in terms of size, was Krakatoa, in what is now Indonesia. That volcano exploded on August 23, 1883 and ‘blew the island completely off the map.’ According to an article from Time.com, the blast was the equivalent of 13,000 hydrogen bombs. There were a total of five eruptions in 1883. One blast was equal to 3,000 Hiroshima-size atom bombs, which ended the war with Japan.
Krakatoa’s eruption also created the loudest noise in recorded history. The sound could be heard as far as 3,000 miles away. Some scientists estimated that the sound could be heard over one thirtieth of the earth’s surface. Imagine that a noise generated in the Northeast that could be heard with perfect clarity in San Francisco.
Krakatoa sent a giant cloud of ash upwards of 90,000 feet that blackened the sky for hundreds of miles in every direction. Soon thereafter, something even more deadly happened. The volcano collapsed into its caldera creating a giant sea wave called a ‘tsunami.’ Because there was no warning, more than 36,000 people drowned from waves as high as 100 feet. Where there once was an island was now empty ocean.
The ash and dust in the higher levels of the atmosphere remained suspended in the sky for more than three years. Temperatures cooled worldwide by more than two degrees Fahrenheit. Sunsets were so colorful that many artists around the globe painted them.
Other major volcanic eruptions since 1815 included; Galunggung in Indonesia, in 1822. More than 4,000 people were killed. Global temperatures dipped by approximately one degree Fahrenheit.
The Ritter Volcano, on Papua New Guinea, exploded in 1888 killing at least 3,000 people. Blizzards east of the Rockies in the following two years were blamed on this eruption. Temperatures cooled worldwide by more than two full degrees Fahrenheit.
Mount Pelee, in Martinique, in the West Indies, blew its top in 1902. At least 29,000 people died. Temperatures globally cooled by more than a degree Fahrenheit.
In 1919, Kelut, in Indonesia, erupted killing 5,110 people. Minor global cooling resulted. A series of blizzards hit the eastern U.S. that next winter of 1919-20.
In 1951, the Lamington Volcano, on Papua New Guinea, erupted killing an estimated 3,000 people. Only minor cooling followed this eruption.
In 1963, the Agung Volcano, on Indonesia, killed 1,148 people. There was a brief period of cooling worldwide. Heavy snows fell across northern Europe during the winter of 1963-64.
In 1985, El Chicon in Mexico, had its worst eruption in modern times. More than 2,000 people died. The global climate cooled slightly.
In 1985, the Nevado del Ruiz Volcano exploded in Columbia. An estimated 23,000 people were killed. Temperatures worldwide cooled a bit.
In 1986, the Lake Nyos Volcano in Cameroon, in West Africa, erupted killing approximately 1,700 people. I couldn’t find any cooling worldwide from this particular eruption.
Last, but certainly not least, was the huge eruption of Mt. Pinatubo, in the Philippines, in June of 1991. This eruption killed nearly 1,000 people. Our planet cooled by more than a full degree Fahrenheit during the following 18 to 24 months. Many climatologists, including your truly, believe that the eruption of Pinatubo was at least partially responsible for the record snowfalls in the eastern U.S. during the harsh winters of 1992-93 and 1993-94. The winter of 1992-93 dumped heavy snows on North Idaho as well.
There are some indications that increased volcanic activity will be occurring worldwide between 2014 and 2020. Therefore, we may see more global cooling during that period, especially with a trend as well of less ‘sunspots’ and more chilly ‘La Ninas’ in the waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean.
