How Extreme Weather Inspired Frankenstein

As part of its Climate Change Connections series, NPR's Nell Greenfieldboyce contributes a fascinating feature on how the extreme weather of 1816 likely inspired Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. That year, the volcano Mount Tambora erupted in Indonesia sending vast amounts of dust into the atmosphere, influencing climate across the globe. In Europe, it was called "The Year Without a Summer," or "eighteen hundred and froze to death."

Technorati Profile

More like this

Tambora, Indonesia There are big eruptions, then there are big eruptions. On April 10, 1815, Tambora, a volcano in Indonesia, produced one of the largest eruptions in human history. This eruption produced what became known as the "year without a summer" after the volcanic aerosols from the…
I've kept this research paper in the archives for too long. Converging topics as diverse as bioethics and Gothic literature, it was one of the most enjoyable papers I've ever had to write. What better day could there be to bring it out of the shadows, than Halloween? Even though I wrote it over a…
Boom 'n' Doom: Volcanoes, North Carolina and North Carolina Volcanoes November 18th; Acro Café on the fourth floor of the Museum of Natural Sciences 8:30-10:00 am with discussion…
Mark Your Cosmic Calendar: 774/775 One wonders if anyone felt it. Did Charlemagne feel it as he led his forces across Pagan Saxon Westphalia, knocking down Irminsuls and making everyone pretend to be Christian or else? Did the people of Bagdad, just becoming the world’s largest city, notice…

On April 10th 1815, Mount Tambora in Indonesia erupted and killed 10,000 people from the explosion and another 82,000 people from related causes such as starvation and disease. To date, Tambora is the worldâs worst volcano disaster in recorded history. The mountain, which stood at 13,000 feet tall, was reduced by 4,000 feet and spewed 93 cubic miles of ash into the atmosphere.