Well, not so much. The writer’s opening statement is hugely misleading to wit: “... the greatest eruption in Earth’s recorded history ...” The key here is to make the reader believe that “recorded history” is the same thing as in human history.
Tambora was only a large eruption VEI of 8, but not the largest in human history. That was the Mt Toba eruption 74,000 years ago which made Tambora look like Mt St Helens in comparison. Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) = each number is greater by a factor of 10.
The Toba eruption was off the scale at VEI of 9 or super volcanic, and likely killed most of the human race then living. Largest volcanic eruption in 400 million years, producing 2.500-3.000 cu. kilometers of ash, and 1 trillion tons of aerosols (including 200,000,000 tons of sulfur dioxide - SO2). Cloud was more than 34 kilometers high. Ash covers India between 1 and 6 meters deep. (May have started following cooling period). 6 year period during which the largest amount of volcanic sulfur was deposited in the past 110,000 years, followed by 1000 years of the lowest ice core oxygen isotope ratios, temperatures were colder than during the Last Glacial Maximum at 18 - 21,000 years ago. Sea level was 160 feet below current.
Global temperature drops average of 21 degrees. Volcanic Winter lasted about six years. It was followed by 1,000 years of the coldest Ice Age on record. Warming begins again 1,000 years later.
It is believed that the 1% human genetic variation stems from this time. No other species shows such a small variation. Genetic evidence suggests only 10,000 adults survived world wide. May be event which caused rise in modern racial differences - Professor Stanley Ambrose of the University of Illinois.
The Toba event was like the projections for Yellowstone, pretty near an ELE (Extinction Level Event).
Once we get to the super volcano level all bets are off as to the extent of the destruction - you can make guesses based of the geology of past events, but that’s all they are - guesses.
One of these super eruptions could be like the Deccan Traps (512,000 cubic kilometers of magma, more than 2,000 meters deep, covering an area as high as 1.5 million square kilometers) or the Siberian Traps (between 1 and 4 million cubic kilometers magma covering 7 million kilometers) eruptions. These last types of eruption aren’t just a blast or two lasting a few days or weeks, rather duration is measured in years or centuries ... Fortunately, as far as we know no human was around then, but that does no lessen the possibility of such events happening again.
Really interesting post. Thank you.
Again, it was an interesting read, other than the gratuitous sex.
Also, it lost some credibility in that it wholly failed to mention that war, including the War of 1812 had been raging to and fro across Europe for the same decade. That had more than a little to do with the hunger, loss of crops, starvation and other disruptions in the daily life of Europeans, peasants and burghers alike.
Even in human history, there appears to have been something that happened a little over 4,000 years ago that was equally devastating. The Egyptians had the First Intermediate Period, as recorded by Ipuwer, and many great powers of the Mediterranean and Middle East disappeared and were replaced by new powers. SC has reported on the large crater about 4,000 years old found in the drained Iraq marsh country. But there are signs there were other potential hits around that time period too.
Here is a link for many images of Toba and a few other volcanoes thrown in as well. The Toba caldera is about 18 by 65 miles, with a large newer (than 74kya) elongated island in it. It is considered a highly beautiful tourist destination. One of the graphs at this link says that Toba produced 2800 kilometers cubed of ash, Yellowstone (Huckleberry Ridge Tuff, I think that was the first and largest one over 2 mya) 2500 Km3, Tambora 80 Km3, and Krakatoa 18 Km3. So Tambora was a monster compared to Krakatoa.
Regarding effects in Europe, Europe had already suffered a significant hunger event after the 1783 Laki Fissure event in Iceland which may have established the conditions of extreme poverty that led to the French Revolution. There was also an interesting period after the death of Charlemagne. Over a hundred year period there were around 30 starvation events some lasting 2 and 3 years throughout Europe. One was caused by Ergot of rye (north), and by wheat stem rust (south) caused by introduction of barberry plants by the Arabs in Spain. This also attacks oats and barley and is staging a comeback after 70 years of USDA eradication efforts. This may be more predictably dangerous than volcanoes and meteors.
http://www.ars.usda.gov/News/docs.htm?docid=9749
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stem_rust
The Wiki article points out that wheat rust caused by unusually rainy weather may have facilitated the death of the Roman Empire. The 536 event described by Cassiodorus is probably what is referred to here. There is also mention of wheat failure in many areas in 1816, the year following the 1815 Tambora eruption.