1816: The Year Without a Summer

How do natural cataclysmic processes of the Earth influence art, history, civilization, and more? The 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia affected the entire world, erupting volcanic ash into the atmosphere and causing the "Year Without a Summer" in 1816.  As the world’s largest and deadliest volcanic eruption in recorded history this left a major impact on culture worldwide including the inspiration for Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Learn how climatic abnormalities led to massive global agricultural failures and major demographic shifts with a lasting legacy today. Leave with a better understanding of volcanoes and how they can affect the natural world. 

Danny Foley is a geologist who has earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University (NAU). He is a scientific researcher who has worked for NASA in planetary geology and as an instructor of geology in higher education. Foley is interested in better understanding our dynamic world and how geologic processes and materials work in an overall system.

This program is presented with funding from Friends of the Prescott Public Library.