Environment

In 1815, Indonesia's Mount Tambora volcano erupted, creating unprecedented hell. The Mount Tambora eruption has since been recorded as the most powerful volcanic eruption ever recorded. 

The eruption of this Indonesian volcano in the early 1800s had major consequences. A huge plume of tiny solar-reflecting particles was blown high into the atmosphere, cooling the planet. And what followed is known in world history as 'the year without a summer'. Indeed, global temperatures plummeted, but crops also failed, people starved, a cholera pandemic spread and tens of thousands of people died.

And now a good 200 years later, scientists are warning that such a gigantic eruption might happen again. 

'It will happen'
“The question is not even if, but when,” says Markus Stoffel, a respected climate professor at the University of Geneva, tells the Nature.com website. This time, however, such an outburst would happen in a vastly changed world, a world that is not only more densely populated, but also warmed by the climate crisis. And the consequences could then be even more catastrophic, CNN stresses. “The next huge eruption will cause climate chaos,” according to Stoffel. “Humanity has no plan. When it happens, we face an unprecedented disaster.” 

And in times of global warming, global cooling caused by a volcanic eruption is actually not a positive phenomenon at all, Nature.com scientists write.

The end of Naples?
“First, there is the immediate impact. A huge eruption could wipe out an entire city. Campi Flegrei, for example, has shown signs of turmoil and is just west of the Italian city of Naples, home to about 1 million people.”

Longer-term consequences could also be catastrophic. “A temperature drop of 1 degree Celsius may sound small, but it is an average. If we look at certain regions, the impact will be much larger,” May Chim, an earth scientist at the University of Cambridge told Nature.com. Scientists fear complete climate chaos, marked by successive extreme weather phenomena, and even problems for aviation due to the volcanic eruption spewing sulfur dioxide through the troposphere.

(FVDV for Tagtik/Source: Nature.com - CNN/Illustration picture: Sinabung Josh for Unsplash)

Very pleased to share our comment in @nature explaining why the next massive #volcano #eruption will cause #climate #chaos — and why we are unprepared.@sciences_UNIGE @unige_en@WCRP_climate@wcrpcmip @IPCC_CH @LloydsList @WTWcorporate @IAVCEI_officialhttps://t.co/5QksbeL9bn

— Markus Stoffel (@ccia_geneva) November 12, 2024