1816: Tambora, climate change, and the year without a summer

Join Dr. David Gapp for an engaging talk as he dives into the events of 1816’s catastrophic volcanic winter.

A massive volcanic eruption in the Indonesian Archipelago 211 years ago this April created a volcanic winter across the Northern Hemisphere and resulted in the “Year without a Summer.” Cold temperatures and drought in North America and cold rain in western Europe precipitated a variety of outcomes — population migrations, a cholera pandemic, famines, typhus outbreaks, the invention of the bicycle, and the writing of Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. As natural philosophers struggled to understand the rapid climate changes of the year, many attributed the challenges to the wrath of God.

The talk will be presented by Dr. David Gapp, who holds degrees in biology from the College of William and Mary and Boston University. He taught for 40 years in the Hamilton College Biology Department and has more recently taught courses through the Acadia Senior College.

Open to the public.