Mt. Tambora and the Year Without a Summer

When the Tambora volcano erupted in Indonesia some 200 years ago during
the Dalton Grand Solar Minimum, around 100,000 people perished. But the
disaster was not over. The eruption’s ash cloud would cause crop
failures, epidemics and civil disturbances across the northern
hemisphere, in what was known as the "Year Without a Summer."

Around 100,000 people died on the Indonesian island of Sumbawa when the
Tambora volcano erupted at the beginning of April 1815. But their deaths
were just the first chapter in this catastrophe. The eruption column
rose to an altitude of more than 40 kilometers, spreading a shroud of
smoke and ash throughout the stratosphere. The year 1816 has gone down
in history as the "year without a summer." That year, the volcanic
fallout blocked the sun’s rays, and rain and cold caused dramatic crop
failures across the northern hemisphere. Famine stalked large parts of
Europe and hundreds of thousands starved to death or were struck down by
fatal diseases. Many set sail for the USA in the hope of finding a
better life - the first major wave of emigration of the 19th Century -
and many who could not afford to emigrate rebelled against the system.
In England, the Corn Laws, which placed heavy taxes on grain, sparked
massive riots in London and other major cities. The effects of the
eruption endured for decades as climatic turbulence in India paved the
way for the first global cholera pandemic, which led to the deaths of
millions of people. The documentary examines the global consequences of
this devastating natural disaster and talks to scientists who explain
how this eruption changed the course of world history.