06/06/2020
THE YEAR WITHOUT A SUMMER
The eruption of Mount Tambora was the largest eruption ever witnessed. Its Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) was 7, the only known eruption on that scale since the eruption of Lake Taupo in about 180 AD. The eruption blew 150 cubic km into the atmosphere, killing 10,000 people initially. The eruptions' column was so high it reached the stratosphere at an altitude of more than 43 kilometres.
The effects were felt worldwide, 1816 was "the year without a summer". Crops failed across Asia and up to 90,000 people probably died of famine. It was the second-coldest year in the Northern Hemisphere since 1400 and parts of North America experienced frost and snow in June and July.
Mount Tambora, or Tomboro, is an active stratovolcano in the northern part of Sumbawa, one of the Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia. It was formed due to the active subduction zones beneath it, and before its eruption, it was more than 4,300 metres (14,100 feet) high, making it one of the tallest peaks in the Indonesian archipelago.
Resettlement of the area began in 1907, and a coffee plantation was established in the 1930s in the Pekat village on the northwestern slope. A dense rain forest of Duabanga moluccana trees had grown at an altitude of 1,000 to 2,800 metres (3,300 to 9,200 ft). It covers an area up to 80,000 hectares (200,000 acres). The rain forest was discovered by a Dutch team, led by Koster and de Voogd in 1933. From their accounts, they started their journey in a "fairly barren, dry and hot country", and then they entered "a mighty jungle" with "huge, majestic forest giants". At 1,100 metres (3,600 ft), the trees became thinner in shape. Above 1,800 metres (5,900 ft), they found Dodonaea viscosa flowering plants dominated by Casuarina trees. On the summit was sparse Edelweiss and Wahlenbergia.
An 1896 survey records 56 species of birds including the crested white-eye. Several other zoological surveys followed and found other bird species, with over 90 bird species discoveries in this period, including yellow-crested cockatoos, Zoothera thrushes, Hill mynas, green junglefowl and rainbow lorikeets are hunted for the cagebird trade by the local people. Orange-footed scrubfowl are hunted for food. This bird exploitation has resulted in population declines, and the yellow-crested cockatoo is nearing extinction on Sumbawa island.
In between the hunting ground and the commercial logging area, there is a designated wildlife reserve where deer, water buffalos, wild pigs, bats, flying foxes and species of reptiles and birds can be found. In 2015, the conservation area protecting the mountain's ecosystem was upgraded to a national park.
References:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Tambora
https://www.onthisday.com/photos/eruption-of-mount-tambora
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