Nearly 200 years after an unknown volcano erupted so intensely that Earth’s climate cooled, scientists have finally identified it.
This eruption, one of the largest of the 19th century, sent so much sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere that the average temperature in the northern hemisphere had fallen by 1 degree Celsius by 1831, reports CNN.
Researchers had already been able to determine that a volcano was involved, but had not until now been able to determine which one had erupted.
In a scientific article published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from St Andrews University in the United Kingdom finally identified it as the Zavaritsky volcano, which is located on Simouchir Island, in the Russian Far East, a territory contested by Russia and Japan.
Before this discovery was made, its last known irruption dated from the year 800 BC. JC.
Scientists used geochemical data to trace the path of particles that entered the stratosphere.
According to the conclusions of the study, this discovery demonstrates the extent to which certain volcanoes present in remote regions are very little monitored by different authorities around the world, which means that their eruptions are difficult to predict.
These, like the one that occurred in 1831, can have very significant consequences on the environment, but also on humans.
That year, several episodes of famine occurred across the world due to temperature changes, such as in India, Japan and Europe, affecting several million people, according to CNN.
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