The April issue of Weather has a review of a book about the Tambora
eruption. In the review, it says that the "eruption was bigger by at
least one order of magnitude than any before it." Should he have
added something on the lines of "except for the mystery eruption that
occurred only seven years earlier which may have been as big and had a
greater effect on the climate"?

--
Graham P Davis, Bracknell
Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through
our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that
democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'
- Isaac Asimov.

The April issue of Weather has a review of a book about the
Tambora
eruption. In the review, it says that the "eruption was bigger
by at
least one order of magnitude than any before it." Should he
have
added something on the lines of "except for the mystery
eruption that
occurred only seven years earlier which may have been as big
and had a
greater effect on the climate"?
Graham P Davis, Bracknell

And the Toba eruption several tens of thousands of years ago?

Anne

On Wed, 15 Apr 2015 19:19:47 +0100
"Anne B" wrote:

The April issue of Weather has a review of a book about the
Tambora
eruption. In the review, it says that the "eruption was bigger
by at
least one order of magnitude than any before it." Should he
have
added something on the lines of "except for the mystery
eruption that
occurred only seven years earlier which may have been as big
and had a
greater effect on the climate"?
Graham P Davis, Bracknell

And the Toba eruption several tens of thousands of years ago?


What the reviewer writes before the phrase I quoted is that the
eruption is the greatest "of the past 10,000 years." I guess he thinks
"any before it" is limited by the previous statement. I'm not so
sure.In any case, if he'd said "at least one order of magnitude bigger
than any in the previous decade" I reckon he would still have been
wrong.

A brief look at temperature data suggests that a sudden cooling occurred
at the time of the mystery eruption and that Tambora merely delayed the
recovery.

--
Graham P Davis, Bracknell
Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through
our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that
democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'
- Isaac Asimov.

What the reviewer writes before the phrase I quoted is that
the
eruption is the greatest "of the past 10,000 years." I guess
he thinks
"any before it" is limited by the previous statement.

Fairy nuff. Only you didn't include that bit at first

Anne

On Wed, 15 Apr 2015 20:52:47 +0100
"Anne B" wrote:

What the reviewer writes before the phrase I quoted is that
the
eruption is the greatest "of the past 10,000 years." I guess
he thinks
"any before it" is limited by the previous statement.

Fairy nuff. Only you didn't include that bit at first


Mainly because I hadn't seen it1 ;-) My eyes - all one-and-a-half of
them - were attracted to what I saw as a controversial statement and
skipped the possible excuse for the reviewer.

Any road up, tomorrow I'll have have a closer look at the temperatures
over the period in question.

--
Graham P Davis, Bracknell
Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through
our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that
democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'
- Isaac Asimov.

On Wednesday, 15 April 2015 21:00:31 UTC+1, Anne B wrote:
What the reviewer writes before the phrase I quoted is that
the
eruption is the greatest "of the past 10,000 years." I guess
he thinks
"any before it" is limited by the previous statement.

Fairy nuff. Only you didn't include that bit at first

Anne

"Fairy" Watch out commissar Garvski will 'ave yer.

On Wednesday, April 15, 2015 at 8:05:27 PM UTC+1, Graham P Davis wrote:
On Wed, 15 Apr 2015 19:19:47 +0100
"Anne B" wrote:

The April issue of Weather has a review of a book about the
Tambora
eruption. In the review, it says that the "eruption was bigger
by at
least one order of magnitude than any before it." Should he
have
added something on the lines of "except for the mystery
eruption that
occurred only seven years earlier which may have been as big
and had a
greater effect on the climate"?
Graham P Davis, Bracknell

And the Toba eruption several tens of thousands of years ago?


What the reviewer writes before the phrase I quoted is that the
eruption is the greatest "of the past 10,000 years." I guess he thinks
"any before it" is limited by the previous statement. I'm not so
sure.In any case, if he'd said "at least one order of magnitude bigger
than any in the previous decade" I reckon he would still have been
wrong.

A brief look at temperature data suggests that a sudden cooling occurred
at the time of the mystery eruption and that Tambora merely delayed the
recovery.

--
Graham P Davis, Bracknell
Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through
our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that
democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'
- Isaac Asimov.

The Laki eruption killed more people especially in Ireland, but it was not from a volcano. It was, dare I say it, a dyke.

In the last 10,000 years there was an enormous eruption on the Greek island of Santorini. "The caldera measures about 12 by 7 km (7.5 by 4.3 mi),...".

The 1815 [Tambora] eruption formed a caldera about 4 miles (6 km) in diameter." so judging by the size of the hole left behind (what will Larry make of that?) it was smaller than Satorini.

I've just finished reading "the Age of Wonder" by Richard Holmes, winner of the Royal Society prize for science books 2009. I was struck by this sentences about events following "the arrival of peace in Europe in 1815": "From further afield there came reports of climate change: huge sheets of thawing pack ice were sighted off Greenland, melting snowcaps seen in the Alpine mountains, and unprecedented river spates and flooding were recorded throughout Europe." Presumably the dust from the eruption had altered the albedo of the snow.

Cheers, Alastair.

On 15/04/2015 19:08, Graham P Davis wrote:

The April issue of Weather has a review of a book about the Tambora
eruption. In the review, it says that the "eruption was bigger by at
least one order of magnitude than any before it." Should he have
added something on the lines of "except for the mystery eruption that
occurred only seven years earlier which may have been as big and had a
greater effect on the climate"?

Where is the evidence for this earlier volcanic action? It should have
left a sizeable hole somewhere or a bunch of fresh lava and ash fields.
A caldera forming volcanic explosion is difficult to hide!

I remain puzzled why Tambora did not precipitate a display of winter
nacreous clouds at temperate latitudes in the same way that Krakatoa did
for a couple years following its less significant eruption.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On Thursday, 16 April 2015 09:57:19 UTC+1, Martin Brown wrote:
On 15/04/2015 19:08, Graham P Davis wrote:

The April issue of Weather has a review of a book about the Tambora
eruption. In the review, it says that the "eruption was bigger by at
least one order of magnitude than any before it." Should he have
added something on the lines of "except for the mystery eruption that
occurred only seven years earlier which may have been as big and had a
greater effect on the climate"?

Where is the evidence for this earlier volcanic action? It should have
left a sizeable hole somewhere or a bunch of fresh lava and ash fields.
A caldera forming volcanic explosion is difficult to hide!

I remain puzzled why Tambora did not precipitate a display of winter
nacreous clouds at temperate latitudes in the same way that Krakatoa did
for a couple years following its less significant eruption.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

Martin,

Laki, if that was the one that Graham is thinking about, was not a volcanic eruption producing a caldera. It was an eruption like that just posted by Asha which creates a line of fire fountains. It can be seen here http://www..bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-32321005

That BBC report also mentions Laki.

On Thu, 16 Apr 2015 09:57:16 +0100
Martin Brown wrote:

On 15/04/2015 19:08, Graham P Davis wrote:

The April issue of Weather has a review of a book about the Tambora
eruption. In the review, it says that the "eruption was bigger by at
least one order of magnitude than any before it." Should he have
added something on the lines of "except for the mystery eruption
that occurred only seven years earlier which may have been as big
and had a greater effect on the climate"?

Where is the evidence for this earlier volcanic action? It should
have left a sizeable hole somewhere or a bunch of fresh lava and ash
fields. A caldera forming volcanic explosion is difficult to hide!

I remain puzzled why Tambora did not precipitate a display of winter
nacreous clouds at temperate latitudes in the same way that Krakatoa
did for a couple years following its less significant eruption.


It appears to have occurred near the beginning of December 1808.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0918111220.htm

If there wasn't such a violent eruption then one must assume that the
atmosphere anticipated the Tambora eruption by half-a-dozen years or
more. Unlikely, I think. ;-)

--
Graham P Davis, Bracknell, Berks. [Retd meteorologist/programmer]
http://www.scarlet-jade.com/
I wear the cheese. It does not wear me.
Posted with Claws: http://www.claws-mail.org/