EXTENT OF DAMAGE

It is estimated that the top 1,220 metres (4,000 ft) of the mountain was reduced to
rubble and ash as a result of the eruption, and was subsequently ejected from the
mountain or fell into the new caldera, reducing Tambora's height by a third. Around
100 cubic kilometres of rock was blasted into the air, eclipsing the estimated 10 cubic
kilometres by its counterpart in Italy, Vesuvius. Not only were rocks and ash expelled
into the atmosphere, but toxic gases were pumped into the atmosphere as well. Many
of the residents who survived the resulting tsunami, eruption, or ash cloud became
sick due to all of the sulphur, which caused lung infections. Volcanic ash was
documented to be over 100 cm deep in areas within 75 km of the eruption, while
areas within a 500 km radius saw a 5 cm phoenix cloud ash fall, and ash could be
found as far away as 1300 km.
With this much volcanic ash on the ground, any crops or viable vegetation sources
were smothered at a minimum and burned if they were close to the volcano itself.
This created an immediate shortage of food in Indonesia, one that only compounded
the regular shortage during the winter season. The ejection of these gasses, especially
HCl, caused the precipitation that followed in the region to be extremely acidic,
killing much of the crops that either survived or were rebudding during the spring.
The food shortage was compounded by the Napoleonic wars, floods, and cholera.
The presence of ash in the atmosphere for several months after the eruption reflected
significant amounts of solar radiation, causing unseasonably cool summers which
further drove populations to a food shortage. China, Europe, and North America all
had well-documented cases of abnormal temperatures, decimating their harvests.
These climatic shifts also altered the monsoon season in China and India, forcing
thousands of Chinese to flee coastal areas due to regional flooding of the Yangtze
Valley. The gases also reflected some of the already decreased incoming solar
radiation, causing a notable decrease in global temperatures throughout the decade,
between 0.4-0.7 C globally.
It was so dramatic that that an ice dam was formed in Switzerland during the
summer of 1816 and 1817, earning 1816 the title Year without a summer or
YWAS. The winter months of 1816 were not very different from years previous, but
the spring and summer maintained the cool to freezing temperatures. However, the
winter of 1817 radically differed, reaching temperatures below -30 F in New York,
which were cold enough to freeze lakes and rivers used for transporting supplies.
Both Europe and North America suffered late freezes that lasted well into June with
snow accumulating up to 32 cm in August, which killed recently planted crops,
crippling the food industry. Unseasonably cool temperatures reduced the output of
crops worldwide: the growing seasons in Massachusetts and New Hampshire were
less than 80 days in 1816, citing freezing temperatures as the reason for harvest
failure. These were visually connected to unique sunsets observed in Western Europe

and red fog found on the Eastern Seaboard of the US. These unique atmospheric
conditions persisted for the better part of 2.5 years.

VOLCANIC WINTER :
Volcanic winter, cooling at Earths surface resulting from the deposition of massive
amounts of volcanic ash and sulphur aerosols in the stratosphere. Sulphur aerosols
reflect incoming solar radiation and absorb terrestrial radiation. These processes
cool the troposphere below. If sulphur aerosol loading is significant enough, it can
result in climate changes at the global scale for years after the event, causing
crop failures, cooler temperatures, and atypical weather conditions across the planet.

Explosive volcanic eruptions are capable of sending pulverized rock, sulphur

dioxide (SO2), and hydrogen sulphide (H2S) into the stratosphere. Although volcanic
ash can decrease regional visibility for a few months after the eruption, sulphur
compounds injected into the stratosphere form sulphur aerosols that can reflect a
portion of incoming sunlight for several years. As the concentration of sulphur
aerosols increases in this region of the atmosphere, greater reflection occurs. Surface
heating declines as a result, and thus cooler temperatures predominate at Earths
surface.

YEAR WITHOUT A SUMMER :

The Year Without a Summer, a peculiar 19th century disaster, played out
during 1816 when weather in Europe and North America took a bizarre turn
that resulted in widespread crop failures and even famine.
The weather in 1816 was bizarre. Spring came but then everything seemed to
turn backward, as cold temperatures returned. The sky seemed permanently
overcast. The lack of sunlight became so severe that farmers lost their crops
and food shortages were reported in Ireland, France, England, and the United
States.
The eruption of an enormous volcano on a remote island in the Indian Ocean
a year earlier had thrown enormous amounts of volcanic ash into the upper
atmosphere. The dust from Mount Tambora, which had erupted in early April
1815, had shrouded the globe. With sunlight blocked, 1816 did not have a
normal summer.