Etching of the 1815 eruption of Tambora in Indonesia

I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that the increased signs of potential activity at Tambora have started a deluge of appalling drivel across the internet. I mean, Tambora in 1815 is one of those volcanic eruptions that gets the media all in a tizzy. It might have killed over 100,000 people! It was the largest eruption in the last 1,000 (?) years? It destroyed an entire mountain! It created “the Year without a Summer”! The effect on global climate, including rains in Europe, inspired Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”! It caused the Earth to spin ...