History
Currently, my major history project is compiling a list of recent catastrophic events that affected global climate, and consequentially, human culture and behavior.
Events such as large meteor impacts and huge volcanic eruptions are frequently described mostly in terms that I would describe as local; such as the year with no summer in 1815, or even the disappearance of large mammals such as Wooly Mammoths from the Americas (erroneously attributed by some to native American hunting). To me, such accounts make it appear that the last event of truly global proportions was the extinction of the dinosaurs.
But, there have been many, widespread major climate changes attributed to major volcanic eruptions, and possibly even smaller comet or meteor strikes since the end of the last ice age. The older I get, "ancient" history seems more recent.
Surely, such events must have impacted wide areas of our planet for many years; but my impression is that most scholars tend to look to more local events to explain such things as the decline of Meditteranean civilzations in 1177 BC. Please understand that I am making no pretense of being a scholar, just stating my opinion.
I hope that this information may provide some wider context in addressing your questions concerning the "local" events that draw your interest.
Table of Major Catastrophic Events
This table is a work in progress. It is originally based on data from the Smithsonian Institute with a Volcanic Explosive Index (VEI) of 6 or greater. I have added a few events, such as the Laki eruption in Iceland in 1783 that weren't included in the database. These additions are noted with an asterisk (*) next to their name.
If you can add any detail to any of the events, or wish to propose new events, please email me at the address in the footer.
| Event Name | Date | Location | Metrics | Local Effects | Long Range Effects |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pinatubo | 15 June 1991 | Luzon, Philippines | VEI=6; 5 km3; 40 km high | 350 deaths; coincident typhoon saturated ash making it heavier; pyroclastic flows and lahars; tens of thousands homeless | Total deaths 800; ash cloud circled the earth after 1 month; sulfuric aerosols that formed from the sulfur dioxide circled the Earth within 3 weeks and remained in the atmosphere for 3 years, reflecting enough sunlight to cool the entire planet by .5° C; Europe received warm air from the south, the Middle East received colder air from the north, bringing to Jerusalem the worst snowstorm in 40 years |
| Novarupta | 6 September 1912 | Alaska Peninsula | VEI=6; 15 km3; 20 miles high | 2 deaths; most powerful eruption of 20th century; pyroclastic flow covered 120 km2 to depths of over 200 meters near its source | Geology.com; ash cloud reached Africa on June 17th; lowered average temperatures by about 2°F (1°C) in the Northern Hemisphere for more than a year |
| Santa Maria | 25 October 1902 | Guatemala | VEI=6; 8 km3; 28+ km high | 5,000 deaths; Several thousand more died from the malaria epidemic that followed | 10,000 total deaths; photovolcanica.com |
| Krakatau | 27 August 1883 | Indonesia | VEI=6 | 2,000 deaths | Total deaths 36,000+; shockwaves reverberated around the entire planet 7 times; global temperatures dropped an average of 2.1°F taking 5 years to return to normal |
| Tambora | 10 April 1815 | Lesser Sunda Isl. Indonesia | VEI=7; 45 km3 | 11,000 deaths; tsunami | Total deaths 60,000; 3% drop in rainfall; cooled planet by 1°C; interrupted Indian Monsoon; drought in southern Africa; widespread crop failures in Europe (1816 known as year without a summer) |
| *Laki | 1783 | Iceland | VEI=4 | Eruption lasted 8 months; up to one-quarter of Iceland's population poisoned by toxic haze | Total deaths may have been 2,000,000; Thousands of people in Europe poisoned by toxic haze; winter average temperature in the US was 4.8°C below the 225 year average; estimated decrease of the entire Northern Hemisphere was about 1°C; global famine - up to a sixth of Egypt's population died; may have fomented French Revolution in 1789 |
| *Cascadia Fault | 26 January 1700 | US Pacific NW coast | Magnitude 8.7-9.2 | Many deaths; coastal villages destroyed | 16 ft tidal wave hits Japan; Wikipedia |
| Long Island | 1660 | Papua New Guinea | VEI=6; 3-30 km3 | 2,000 deaths; Tephra covered 87,000 sq km of the New Guinea highlands, to a depth of 1.5 cm. Ash deposits on Long Island were 30 m deep | |
| Huaynaputina | 1600 | Peru | VEI=6 | 1,500 deaths | Most deaths happened in Russia (one-third of the population) due to its worst famine in history caused by the coldest winter in 600 years; Wikipedia |
| Billy Mitchell | 1580 | Papua New Guinea | VEI=6; 6km3 | temperature drop in the Northern Hemisphere of 0.2-0.3°C for 1-2 years; volcanodiscovery.com | |
| Bardarbunga | February 1477 | Iceland | VEI=6; 10 km3 | ||
| Quilotoa | 1280 | Ecuador | VEI=6 | ||
| Changbaishan | 1000 | North Korea | VEI=7 | ||
| Ceboruco | 930 | Ceboruco, Mexico | VEI=6 | ||
| Bona-Churchill | 847 | Alaska, USA | VEI=6 | ||
| Pago | 710 | Papua New Guinea | VEI=6 | ||
| Rabaul | 683 | Papua New Guinea | VEI=6 | ||
| Dakataua | 653 | Papua New Guinea | VEI=6 | ||
| *Volcano | 535 | tree ring and ice core data | |||
| Ilopango | 450 | El Salvador | VEI=6 | 30,000 deaths | |
| *Krakatoa | 416 | Indonesia | |||
| Ksudach | 240 | Kamchatka, Russia | VEI=6 | ||
| Lake Taupo | 230 | New Zealand | VEI=6 | ||
| *Vesuvius | 79 | Pompeii, Italy | VEI=5 | 20,000 deaths | |
| Bona-Churchill | 60 | Alaska, USA | VEI=6 | ||
| Ambrym | 50 | Vanuatu, S Pacific | VEI=6 | ||
| Apoyeque | 50 BC | Nicaragua | VEI=6 | ||
| Okmok | 100 BC | Aleutian Isl. USA | VEI=6 | ||
| Raoul Island | 250 BC | New Zealand | VEI=6 | ||
| Pinatubo | 1050 BC | Luzon, Philippines | VEI=6 | ||
| Pago | 1370 BC | Papua New Guinea | VEI=6 | ||
| Taupo | 1460 BC | New Zealand | VEI=6 | ||
| Santorini | 1610 BC | Geece | VEI=7 | <1,000 deaths | |
| Aniakchak | 1645 BC | Alaska Peninsula, USA | VEI=6 | ||
| Veniaminof | 1750 BC | Alaska Peninsula, USA | VEI=6 | ||
| St. Helens | 1860 BC | Washington, USA | VEI=6 | ||
| Hudson, Cerro | 1890 BC | Chile | VEI=6 | ||
| Black Peak | 1900 BC | Alaska Peninsula, USA | VEI=6 | ||
| Long Island | 2040 BC | Papua New Guinea | VEI=6 | ||
| Pinatubo | 3550 BC | Luzon, Philippines | VEI=6 | ||
| Taal | 3580 BC | Luzon, Philippines | VEI=6 | ||
| Pago | 4000 BC | Papua New Guinea | VEI=6 | <50 deaths | |
| Masaya | 4050 BC | Nicaragua | VEI=6 | ||
| Kikai | 4350 BC | Ryukyu Isl. Japan | VEI=7 | ||
| Macauley Island | 4360 BC | Kermadec Isl. New Zealand | VEI=6 | ||
| *Mt. Mazama | 5600 BC | Crater Lake, Oregon, USA | VEI-7? | ||
| *Storegga Slides | 6225-6170 BC | Norwegian continental shelf | 290 km length of coastal shelf collapsed, with a total volume of 3,500 km3 caused a mega-tsunami in the North Atlantic | Thousands of deaths; the area called Doggerland in what is now the North Sea was completely submerged, turning Britain into an island |