Volcanic eruptions and Pink Floyd: Inside Europe’s ‘Little Ice Age’ mystery

Courier Tribune ^ | 4-5-2023 | Mark Waghorn

[Saije]

Europe's mysterious "Little Ice Age" has been traced back to a massive volcanic eruption in Indonesia - thanks to Pink Floyd.

It lasted centuries and led to the Thames Frost fairs, when the river froze over for months at a time - turning it into a skating rink.

A generally warm medieval period was followed by a mostly cold spell - from the 14th to the 19th Centuries.

The weather phenomenon has baffled climatologists for decades.

A study - inspired by the 70s rock legends' Dark Side of the Moon - now shows it was triggered by a catastrophic eruption in 1257.

The evidence comes from historical observations of lunar eclipses between 1100 and 1300 - recorded by monks.

Lead author Dr. Sebastien Guillet, of Geneva University, Switzerland, said: "I was listening to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon album when I realized the darkest lunar eclipses all occurred within a year or so of major volcanic eruptions.

"Since we know the exact days of the eclipses, it opened the possibility of using the sightings to narrow down when the eruptions must have happened.”

Up to 20,000 souls lost their lives when Mount Samalas on Lombok blew.

Columns of ash soared miles into the atmosphere. Lava flows buried much of the island - and crossed the sea to neighboring Sumbawa.

Co-author Professor Clive Oppenheimer, of Cambridge University, said: "It rivals the famous 1815 eruption of Tambora that brought on 'the year without a summer'."

The eclipses produce visible 'veils' of dust that reduce solar radiation - enabling the international team to rank their color and brightness.

[Revel]

With all that Co2 it should have gotten warmer- Not colder. Or so they tell us.

[Article10]

What about the ManBearPig?

[njslim]

Correlation between sunspots and colder climate was made early in 20th by Anglo-Irish astronomer E W Maunder early in 20th cent by examining records of sunspots kept by Armagh university of the late 18th to 20th cent

[norwaypinesavage]

"Europe's mysterious "Little Ice Age" has been traced back to a massive volcanic eruption in Indonesia - thanks to Pink Floyd. It lasted centuries."

Pink Floid, Guillet, and the Courier Tribune all must be smoking the same stuff. volcanoes and their eruptions don't spew aerosols that last for centuries. The "Little Ice Age correlates far better with Sunspots. Not that the sun might influence the climate just a little.

[SunkenCiv]

[snip] A study - inspired by the 70s rock legends' Dark Side of the Moon - now shows it was triggered by a catastrophic eruption in 1257. The evidence comes from historical observations of lunar eclipses between 1100 and 1300 - recorded by monks. [/snip]

Goin' 'round the bend ping.

---

join or quit view topics view or post blog bookmark post new topic subscribe

---

• A Celestial Collision [09/15/2004]
• Giordano Bruno, the June 1975 Meteoroid Storm, Encke, and Other Taurid Complex Objects [12/27/2004]
• Comet or Meteorite Impact Events in 1178AD? [01/03/2005]
• Moon's Youngest Crater Discovered [12/19/2002]
• NASA Solves Moon Mystery (+Geology Picture of the Week, February 16-22, 2003) [02/21/2003]
• LUNAR IMPACT PLUME [LCROSS team: Moon collision a "smashing success" after all] [10/19/2009]
• Bright Explosion on the Moon [05/17/2013]

[zeugma]

They told us it was the absence of sunspots and called it the Maunder Minimum.

Could be a combination. The Chinese have really good records of sunspot activity going back centuries.

[Paal Gulli]

"They told us it was the absence of sunspots and called it the Maunder Minimum."

Not likely, seeing as how the Maunder Minimum wasn't observed until three centuries after the Little Ice Age began.

The Spörer Minimum occurred centuries before the invention of the telescope but was determined through analysis of tree growth rings.

[JohnnyP]

It was a joke.