Matt McCloskey
June 6, 2013
Earth Science C
Even
Ms. Davies
McGrath, Matt. "Ancient Irish
Texts Show Volcanic Link to Cold Weather." BBC News. BBC, 06 June
2013. Web. 06 June 2013.
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22786179>.
In the dim light
of the dark ages, the Irish literary tradition stands out as an important piece
of information for scientists. Evidence from Irish annals, or ancient texts,
written at the monastery at Clonmacnoise recorded evidence supporting that
volcanic activity is linked to cold weather. Researchers have found 38 records
regarding volcanoes, 37 of which were associated with cold weather. When
volcanoes erupt, they produce sulphate aerosol particles which through the
centuries have been deposited on and frozen in ice sheets, leaving an extremely
accurate temporal record of the event. It is said that these particles reflect
incoming sunlight and can cause temporary cooling of the Earth’s surface. Since
a country like Ireland has a mild maritime climate, these colder events would
have a significant impact. Dr. Francis Ludlow from Harvard University stated, “When
the weather that is cold enough to all you to walk over a lake in Ireland, it
is pretty unusual.” Researching entries from about 431 A.D. to 1649 A.D.,
scientists have observed over 40,000 Irish Annals. The scientists were able to
indentify 48 volcanic eruptions in the time period and 38 of them were related
to extreme weather events in the Irish texts. The cold weather patterns
produced as a result of the volcanoes had serious impacts on Ireland. They
brought very cold winters that were unbearable for domestic animals and even
some humans. Also, there were records of severe crop failures during this cold
period. In some cases, the Irish people were forced to slaughter beasts for
food. Dr. Ludlow made another statement regarding the devastation of the
volcanoes. He said, “And it is clear from the sources that they cause a lot of
devastation among societies at the time- whether it was the mass mortality of
domestic animals or humans, or indirectly by causing harvest failure.” One of
the annals described how there was a very cold winter with heavy snowfall. It
went on to say that there was a great loss of cows, sheep, and pigs in the same
year.
This article is
important to society because there are still active volcanoes today. Although
the world is much more advanced and could survive through an unusually cold
season if it came about, the situation presented in the article could still
have significant impacts. For example, in a very hot area that has active
volcanoes, it would be very hard for them to adapt to a cold climate if it
changed. Also, if the area was undeveloped and the food supply was not very
stable, it could result in crop failure and possibly poverty. On another note,
this article is important because it is an important piece of history and shows
how the past can help us learn about the world. It is very interesting to see
that evidence dating that far back can be of importance to scientists. I also
find volcanoes to be a very interesting topic.
This article was
without a doubt very interesting. I would not say that it was poorly written
but they definitely could have gone into more detail about the volcanoes and
how it caused cold weather. For example, when it was talking about the
particles and they reflected sunlight, it was a little bit vague as to how that
resulted in cooling of the temperature. It provided some very credible statistics
about the different entries, however, some statistics and more information
about the impacts of the cold temperature on the region would have been nice.
All in all, this article was very enjoyable to read and presented me with some
new knowledge about volcanoes.
Matt’s current event report was very informative. I like how he chose an article that connects history to science. I think Matt had an excellent summary of the article; it gave enough information about what the ancient Irish people found out about volcano’s. And, how modern scientist worked with this theory, and proved it. I also agree with Matt in that the article could have gone more in depth about how the cold weather affects the volcanoes. I also thought Matt’s connection to society was good because it showed that volcanoes have always be a threat to people, and by looking to history to see if someone before us already reached an answer, is sometimes smarter than trying to find it ourselves. Overall I enjoyed reading Matt’s report and it taught me a lot about history, science, and how they connect together.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your current event article summary a great deal. You chose an interesting topic. I think you did a great job in presenting the topic with historical background which allowed the reader to understand the article better. Also, I liked how you explained exactly what the connection between volcano eruptions and colder winters. Without this explanation, I would have been lost reading your summary. A final thing that i enjoyed reading about your summary was when you explained how this article was important to the Earth Science community. I agree with you that having this information handy can help us prepare for an eruption in an arid climate. I learned a few things from reading your summary. One, is I was unaware how volcano eruptions can have such a huge effect on a country like Ireland so many time. I knew that a big enough eruption could block out the sun, but this article make the case that even small ones cause small temperature drops which have a huge impact on the environment. I also learned that when a volcano erupts it releases particles that reflect sunlight. I had never known that before. You did a good job with your summary i would just suggest to take a few sentences to explain all the numbers you threw out their about the eruptions. It was a lot to take in. Other than that you did a great job and I am glad I got a chance to read it.
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