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E-book A Mist Connection : An Environmental History of the Laki Eruption of 1783 and Its Legacy
What was causing this upheaval of the elements? Many Europeans thought aboutthis question. These wonders were documented in newspaper reports, weather diaries,publications of learned societies, scholarly monographs, and private communications ofthe period. The fact that these phenomena were widely discussed and reflected upon isindicative of the great interest contemporaries had in them.3Emotions concerningthese events ranged from giddy excitement to existential fear. Was all this a sign of animpending disaster? Could the natural sciences shed light on these phenomena? Specu-lation ran wild. The summer of 1783 was sweltering; was this the root of the problem?Could extraordinary events have an ordinary explanation? Were the earthquakes inCalabria to blame? Was the inclemency an expression of a much larger natural eventthat was taking place? The then-recent invention and installation of lightning rodsprompted many to suggest that they were to blame. Could the emergence of a new,smoking island off the coast of Iceland have anything to do with it all? Was the tumultu-ous weather in any way related to the apparent eruptions of Gleichberg and Cottaberg,two mountains of volcanic origin in the German Territories?4Many even strove to con-nect a meteor, seen scorching a trail across the upper atmosphere, to these terrestrialevents.
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