快猫短视频

THE eruption of the Eyjafjallaj枚kull volcano in Iceland shut down air travel across much of Europe for five days last year, and Gr铆msv枚tn has just threatened a repeat performance. For many it came as a surprise how much disruption one relatively small eruption could cause, but volcanologist Clive Oppenheimer knew that these fireworks were just a taste of the kind of havoc that volcanoes can wreak.

In Eruptions that Shook the World, Oppenheimer romps through the geological past, detailing some of the major volcanic events and their global impact. Some say the mountains of lava spewed out 66 million years ago in India wiped out the dinosaurs, for example. And Toba, an Indonesian super-eruption, may have changed the course of human evolution 73,000 years ago.

While the book鈥檚 subject matter is engaging, its style is reminiscent of an academic text. The first half covers the nuts and bolts of how volcanoes work, providing a useful reference for earth science students but with more dry detail than most people will want. The case histories in the second half are well worth diving into, however.

Oppenheimer鈥檚 narrative weaves together geology, ecology, archaeology, climatology and historical records, demonstrating just how far-reaching a volcano鈥檚 impact can be. He shows how some eruptions may have boosted ancient empires, while others hastened their demise. Most fascinating of all are the 鈥渕ystery鈥� eruptions whose existence is given away by thick layers of ash in Greenland ice cores, but for which no obvious craters have been found. It is possible that these eruptions triggered the European Dark Ages by, for example, causing harvests to fail.

So what lies ahead? Oppenheimer suggests that eruptions like Eyjafjallaj枚kull should come as no surprise, and discusses how we can be better prepared for them. Ultimately he is upbeat, suggesting that a super-eruption could bring out the best in humanity, inspiring altruism and collective political action. It鈥檚 a curious call to arms, even from a volcanologist.