The Strangest Summer In Recorded History
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The Eruption of Mount Tambora and the Year Without Summer
On April 10th, 1815, the sun disappeared as Mount Tambora, located in present-day Indonesia, erupted. The boom of the eruption could be heard over 2,000 kilometers away, and sulfurous plumes of steam and ash billowed thousands of meters into the sky, forming dark storm clouds of soot and lightning. This eruption is the largest in recorded history, and its impact was only just beginning. The emissions from Tambora ascended high into the atmosphere, spreading across the globe and blotting out the sun for almost an entire year. The hazy skies and cold weather of 1816 wreaked havoc on agriculture, leading to famines across the Northern Hemisphere. Nations struggled with epidemics, and artists crafted bleak tributes to these seemingly apocalyptic times. This was the year without summer—literally one of the darkest periods in human history.
Geoengineering: A Solution to Global Warming?
While no one wants to replicate the famine and despair of the year without summer, some modern researchers are interested in using sulfurous haze to block out the sun, and hopefully, slow the effects of global warming. This is one of many proposals in the realm of geoengineering—a class of deliberate, large-scale interventions in Earth’s natural systems intended to help restrain climate change. Different geoengineering schemes intervene in different systems. Any plans to cool the planet by blocking the amount of sunlight reaching the earth would fall in the category of solar radiation management.
The Risks and Challenges of Solar Radiation Management
Some of these proposals are massive in scale, such as suggestions to create a helpful version of volcanic plumes or build a giant sunshade in Earth’s orbit. Others are more limited, focusing on enhancing natural cooling systems. For example, researchers might enlarge marine clouds or make Earth reflect more sunlight by building huge swaths of white surfaces. However, these cooling effects are global and fast-acting—but they’re also incredibly risky. The Earth is a chaotic system where even the smallest changes can create countless unpredictable ripple effects. We know that cooling temperatures impact precipitation, extreme weather, and other climate phenomena, but it’s difficult for even the most advanced computer models to predict how or where these consequences will occur.
The Need for Further Research and Caution
One country’s solar radiation management might be another country’s unnatural disaster, causing extreme weather or crop failures like those following Tambora’s eruption. And even if these schemes did safely cool the planet, solar radiation management doesn’t address the greenhouse gases that are causing global warming. These solutions are just highly experimental band-aids that the world would have to endure for at least a few decades while we work on actually removing CO2 from the air. And if we pulled that band-aid off prematurely, global temperatures could rapidly rebound, causing a period of intense superwarming. For these reasons and more, solar radiation management is risky.
Current Experiments and Future Possibilities
Today, researchers are running small-scale experiments, such as enhancing marine clouds to protect the Great Barrier Reef from further heating and bleaching. And most scientists agree that we should pursue ways to cut emissions and remove atmospheric CO2 first and foremost. However, there are reasons to keep studying these more aggressive approaches. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and in the future, geoengineering might be civilization’s last resort. Furthermore, some of these plans would be shockingly easy to execute by some rogue actor with enough cash. So we’ll want to be prepared if someone starts geoengineering without governmental approval.
The Unintended Geoengineering Project: Climate Change
Perhaps the most important reason to investigate the impacts of geoengineering is that people are already making large-scale interventions in the atmosphere. In many ways, climate change is an unintended geoengineering project fueled by the emissions generated from centuries of burning fossil fuels. And unless we take action to curb emissions and draw CO2 out of the atmosphere soon, summer may never be the same again.
Discussion Questions
- Reflecting on the eruption of Mount Tambora and the year without summer, how do you think such a catastrophic event would impact society today?
- What are your thoughts on using geoengineering, such as solar radiation management, as a solution to global warming? Do you believe the potential risks outweigh the benefits?
- Considering the unpredictable ripple effects of even small changes in the Earth’s climate system, how confident are you in the ability of scientists to accurately predict the consequences of solar radiation management?
- How do you think countries should navigate the potential conflicts that may arise if one country’s solar radiation management negatively impacts another country’s climate and agriculture?
- Do you think solar radiation management is a viable and ethical solution to climate change, or do you believe that efforts should be focused primarily on cutting emissions and removing CO2 from the atmosphere?
- What are your thoughts on the small-scale experiments currently being conducted, such as enhancing marine clouds to protect the Great Barrier Reef? Do you think these experiments are helpful in understanding the potential of geoengineering or do they pose additional risks?
- Considering the possibility of rogue actors executing geoengineering projects without governmental approval, what measures should be put in place to prevent such actions? How can we ensure the responsible use of geoengineering technologies?
- How does the concept of climate change as an unintended geoengineering project influence your perspective on the urgency of curbing emissions and drawing CO2 out of the atmosphere?
Lesson Vocabulary
eruption – a sudden and violent outburst of a volcano – The volcanic eruption sent a plume of ash and smoke into the sky.
sulfur – a yellow chemical element with a strong, choking odor – The rotten egg smell is caused by the presence of sulfur in the water.
ash – the powdery residue left after the combustion of a substance – The volcanic ash covered the entire town, making it difficult to breathe and see.
atmosphere – the envelope of gases surrounding the Earth or another planet – The Earth’s atmosphere protects us from harmful radiation and provides the oxygen we need to breathe.
global warming – the long-term increase in Earth’s average surface temperature due to human activities – The burning of fossil fuels contributes to global warming and climate change.
geoengineering – the deliberate large-scale manipulation of Earth’s environment to counteract climate change – Geoengineering proposals include techniques to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
solar radiation management – the intentional modification of solar radiation to reduce the effects of global warming – Solar radiation management techniques aim to reflect sunlight back into space to cool the Earth.
climate change – long-term alterations in temperature and typical weather patterns due to human activities and natural processes – The melting of polar ice caps is one of the visible effects of climate change.
greenhouse gases – gases that trap heat in the Earth’s atmosphere and contribute to the greenhouse effect – Carbon dioxide and methane are examples of greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.
experiments – activities conducted to gain knowledge or test hypotheses – Scientists are conducting experiments to study the effects of climate change on marine ecosystems.
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- Categories: Environmental Studies, Geography, Grade 10, Grade 9, Physics, TED Ed, University, Video Lessons
- Keywords: ash, atmosphere, climate change, eruption, experiments, geoengineering, global warming, greenhouse gases, solar radiation management, sulfur
