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The Year Without a Summer (1816)
And the ensuing famine
The year 1816 is known as the Year Without A Summer. The atmosphere was blasted with millions of pounds of ash and dust thanks to a massive volcanic eruption in present-day Indonesia (Dutch East Indies). The skies became cloudy, and temperatures plummeted. The cold weather combined with shrouded sunlight caused crops to falter and fail from China to France.
People walked around looking at the gloomy weather and shivering in July, wondering what was happening. This was a time when a massive eruption in Southeast Asia would never have registered in the minds of regular Europeans.
The Coldest Summer
The Year Without A Summer produced the coldest summer on record in Europe, dating back to 1700. Temperatures were an average of three degrees colder in central and western Europe than average. These temperatures were dragged down by particularly cold and dreary days that made Europe feel more like winter than summer. Heavy rains darkened the skies and caused major crop failures.
Massive drenching rains soaked the continent, washing out crops and causing river flooding. August…
