Posted on 11/27/2008 9:16:01 PM PST by AZLiberty
The article is about a Channel 4 (UK) documentary series called Catastrophe. I found the following excerpt particularly interesting. I don't remember ever hearing about the 1783 toxic cloud over Britain, and now wonder whether this had any influence on early British-American relations, or any long-lasting historical impact.
Toxic Cloud Over Britain
In 1783 in Laki, Iceland, a volcanic eruption occurred, spewing out gas and lava for eight months and covering an area of 200sq miles in molten rock.
The Laki eruption produced huge quantities of sulphur dioxide, burning peoples eyeballs, scorching the skin off livestock and killing plants.
The eruption sent a huge toxic cloud across Western Europe - it was the greatest natural disaster to hit modern Britain, with acid rain, smog and extreme weather continuing over the country for months.
Lakis killer cloud took the lives of an estimated 23,000 British men and women. And it could happen again - Iceland has 18 volcanoes that have been active in recent centuries, the greatest concentration anywhere on the planet.
Clouds of ash, gas and sulphuric acid from Iceland could sweep across Britain again.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Barack Hussein Obambi?
Leftism? Socialism, communism?
Islamofascism?
Pictures that give you a sense of the size of the fissures aren't as high quality, but here's one:
This event primarily affected Iceland, which experienced a severe famine due to the destruction of crops and livestock by the volcano. However, during the next few years, temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere cooled considerably--Charleston Harbor in South Carolina froze over, as did the Mississippi River at New Orleans.
The event probably had no effect on British-American relations. The War of the American Revolution was winding down in 1783, the main theater of combat having shifted from North America to India.
That looks like it could erode into two ridges.
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Just a hint of coming festivities.
The repercussions of the Laki Volcano eruption in Iceland resonated throughout Europe for the next few years. The summer of 1783, having been turned to winter was followed by an extreme, harsh winter in 1784, even in North America where it was reported as one of the coldest on record.The Laki Volcano eruption in Iceland can also be said to have contributed significantly to the French Revolution. After several years of extreme weather in Europe caused by the Laki eruption, the ensuing destruction of crops and livestock brought famine and poverty that built up in France, triggering the Revolution which began in 1789.
“any long-lasting historical impact.”
Comment 10 refers to the influence of the subsequent severe winters and crop failures on the French Revolution. The problems were also caused by fluorine gas in the atmosphere. Ninety percent of the livestock in Iceland died from starvation/fluorosis, as well as 10,000 out of a 70,000 population. This was a far higher percentage than the unfortunate 23,000 in England. I wonder how many it was for the rest of Europe. Ben Franklin was there at the time and suggested that the weird atmosphere/weather was caused by something volcanic in Iceland. He realy was a smart guy.
For those interested in volcano weather, check out “The Year with No Summer” as 1816 in New England was called after the monster explosion of Tambora, Indonesia, in 1815. More recently, of course, we have several years of strange weather and 500 year floods from Mt Pinatubo in 1991.
The past few days there have been a number of large fireballs reported on in the US and Canada.
Kinda of makes me wonder if this economic theft of late has a *catastrophic* reason behind it.
Driving through Show Low early yesterday evening, my son and I both saw a meteor-like streak towards the west.
So now a small fireball has also been reported.
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