Mount Tambora: The Volcano That Erased Summer

Imagine waking up in July...

and it’s snowing.

That’s what happened in 1816, thanks to Mount Tambora’s eruption the year before.

Located in Indonesia, Tambora blew its top with the force of 1.2 million Hiroshima bombs.

It was the most powerful eruption in recorded history—and it didn’t just stay local.

It went global.

The eruption launched 36 cubic miles of ash into the atmosphere.

That’s enough to bury Manhattan under 300 feet of volcanic dust.

The ash blocked sunlight, dropping global temperatures.

Crops failed.

Livestock died.

And people?

They starved.

Europe and North America saw snow in June.

It was like nature hit the ‘apocalypse’ button by accident.

The ‘Year Without a Summer’ wasn’t just cold—it was creepy.

Mary Shelley, stuck indoors during the gloomy weather, wrote Frankenstein.

Lord Byron penned dark poetry.

Meanwhile, people blamed everything from sunspots to divine punishment.

Spoiler: it was just a volcano having a really bad day.

Tambora turned the world into a gothic novel setting.

Tambora’s eruption killed over 70,000 people directly, but millions more suffered from famine and disease.

It was a climate catastrophe before we even had the term.

So next time you complain about a chilly summer, remember: at least your vacation wasn’t canceled by a

volcano.

Unless you’re in Iceland.

Then...

maybe check the news.