Volcanism and Short-Term Climatic Change in East Asian and World History, c. 1200-1699

Abstract

Although there has been serious discussion of the possible connection between volcanic activity and short-term climatic change for at least two centuries, research in this field has advanced greatly since the 1960s (see, for example, the summaries in Lamb 1988: 301-328; Rampino, Self, and Stothers 1988; American Geophysical Union 1992; Chester 1993: 158-185; Bradley and Jones 1995b; Robock 2000). 1 One reason for this advance is that after more than four decades of relative quiet following two massive eruptions in Alaska in 1912, there has been a substantial increase in both the frequency and magnitude of [End Page 30] global volcanism since the mid-1950s. Especially noteworthy in this increase were the July 1953 eruption of Alaska's Mt. Spurr, the March 1956 eruption of Mt. Bezymianny in Kamchatka, and the March 1963 eruption of Mt. Agung on the Indonesian island of Bali. This last eruption was particularly important because the large quantities of volcanic matter it injected high into the stratosphere helped to cause brilliant sunsets, hazy skies, and other optical effects that attracted the attention of observers from around the world for the next several years (Lamb 1970: 525; Newell 1981).