volcanic winter
Ash-dimmed cold season
Volcanic winter is a period of global cooling caused by massive volcanic eruptions that inject ash and sulfur dioxide into the upper atmosphere, blocking sunlight.
The 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora triggered the "year without summer" in 1816, with crop failures across Europe and North America.
Unlike nuclear winter, volcanic winters have occurred throughout recorded history.
Losing thermal energy
- dimmingDecreasing in brightness
- albedoSurface reflection coefficient
- sulfateAcidic salt compound
- radiativeEmitting energy as waves
forcing · stratosphere · troposphere · temperature drop · insolation · circulation · anomaly · perturbation
When fields yield nothing
- starvationExtreme nutritional deprivation
- malnutritionDisease from dietary inadequacy
- scarcityInsufficiency of something needed
- hungerNeed for nourishment
rationing · subsistence · grain shortage · price spike · social unrest · migration · famine relief
Collapsed volcanic summit basin
- pyroclasticHot eruption debris
- tephraEjected volcanic material
- pumiceLightweight volcanic abrasive
- ashfallAirborne volcanic debris descending
lahar · sulfur · aerosols · stratospheric · Krakatoa · supervolcano · magma · plume
Complete vanishing of a species
- civilization collapseCatastrophic failure of complex society
- apocalypticPertaining to ultimate devastation
- devastationSevere widespread destruction
- cataclysmViolent, large-scale disaster
disaster · crisis · aftermath · recovery · survivors · societal collapse · dark age · historical
cooling
Losing thermal energy
radiative · forcing · stratosphere · troposphere · temperature drop · insolation · circulation · anomaly · perturbation · feedback
crop failure
When fields yield nothing
- starvationExtreme nutritional deprivation
- malnutritionDisease from dietary inadequacy
- scarcityInsufficiency of something needed
hunger · rationing · subsistence · grain shortage · price spike · social unrest · migration · famine relief
caldera
Collapsed volcanic summit basin
- pyroclasticHot eruption debris
- tephraEjected volcanic material
- pumiceLightweight volcanic abrasive
ashfall · lahar · sulfur · aerosols · stratospheric · Krakatoa · supervolcano · magma · plume · ejecta
extinction
Complete vanishing of a species
- civilization collapseCatastrophic failure of complex society
- apocalypticPertaining to ultimate devastation
- devastationSevere widespread destruction
cataclysm · disaster · crisis · aftermath · recovery · survivors · societal collapse · dark age · historical · Anthropocene
obscured
Made hard to perceive
overcast · haze · murky · shrouded · gray skies · penumbra · diffused · pallid
freezing
Extremely cold
glacial · frigid · wintry · bitter · chilling · frozen · killing frost
- volcanic activityeruption, active, lava, dormant, magma
- volcanoesMount Fuji, caldera, lava, crater, Etna
- catastrophesdisasters, disaster, natural disasters, catastrophe, apocalypse
- natural disastersearthquake, tornado, hurricane, tsunami, wildfire
- climate patternsEl Nino, La Nina, ice age, warming, cooling
- Supervolcanoessupervolcano, Yellowstone, caldera, calderas, magma chamber
winter, volcano, volcanic, wintertime, volcanism, volcanology, volcanically, volcanologist