Studia Humanitatis

In summer 1831 the climate in the Northern Hemisphere cooled by an average of about 1 degree Celsius, coinciding with reports of gloomy, harsh weather and the sun changing to different colours. Scientists knew that a massive eruption caused this strange event, but the exact culprit of this cataclysm remained unknown for a long time. The 1831 eruption of the Zavaritski Volcano was one of several 19th century eruptions associated with the final phase of the so-called Little Ice Age (1800 to 1850), according to the volcanologists. This Age was not a true Ice – the last true ice age ended 10,000 years ago – but it marked the coldest period in the past 500 years. In this article the author explains the Zavaritski Volcano eruption and the geological time frame in which it occurred. It is also describes how the volcano was found almost 200 years after the eruption. The 183 eruption into perspective with today’s climate crisis and the one humanity will experience within the next hundred years.