
Volcanic winters
A volcanic winter is a reduction in global temperatures caused by volcanic ash and droplets of sulfuric acid and water obscuring the Sun and raising Earth's albedo (increasing the reflection of solar radiation) after a large, particularly explosive volcanic eruption. Long-term cooling effects are primarily dependent upon injection of sulfur gases into the stratosphere where they undergo a series of reactions to create sulfuric acid which can nucleate and form aerosols.
2 episodes
Episodes in this category also belong to the following categories:
1816, the Year Without a Summer
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the link between the eruption of Mt Tambora in 1815, the largest and most lethal in recorded history, with famines in Europe and America in 1816.
21 April 2016
Featuring: Clive Oppenheimer, Jane Stabler, Lawrence Goldman
The Bronze Age Collapse
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Bronze Age collapse, the term used to describe what many perceive as sudden, chaotic change around 1200 BC, mainly in the eastern Mediterranean.
16 June 2016
Featuring: Linda Hulin, Simon Stoddart