What a Historical Investigation Can Tell Us About Human Resiliency Today
Just over two hundred years ago, the Tambora volcano, a massive cone volcano in Indonesia, erupted, altering atmospheric composition and causing lowered temperatures globally. The eruption occurred in April, leading to agricultural ruin in the following boreal summer. Clues into how human societies modified fishing practices to cope with a failed harvest gives us insight into how a drastic global climatic event might be handled today. NE CSC Science Coordinator Michelle Staudinger, Postdoctoral Research Fellow Alex Bryan, and Affiliated Investigator Adrian Jordaan with UMass, Amherst’s Environmental Conservation department, contributed to this study. The paper, “Tambora and the mackerel year: Phenology and fisheries during an extreme climate event", by Karen Alexander et al., came out in Science Advances on January 18, 2017.
Read the USGS Press Release >>
Read the UMass Amherst Press Release >>
Other news:
- The AP article, "What Can Mackerel and a Volcano Say About Climate Change?" was featured in the The New York Times, ABC News, St. Louis Post and Dispatch, Sioux City Journal, CTVnews, Hindustan Times, and The Globe and Mail. January 23, 2017
- CTVnews: Researchers say mackerel and a volcano eruption provide clue about climate change. January 23, 2017
- Phys.org: New England's 1816 'Mackerel Year' and climate change today January 18, 2017
- International Business News Historic volcanic eruption devastated fisheries on the other side of the world. January 18, 2017.