Eruptions that Shook the World

by Clive Oppenheimer

What does it take for a volcanic eruption to really shake the world? Did volcanic eruptions extinguish the dinosaurs, or help humans to evolve, only to decimate their populations with a super-eruption 73,000 years ago? Did they contribute to the ebb and flow of ancient empires, the French Revolution and the rise of fascism in Europe in the 19th century? These are some of the claims made for volcanic cataclysm. Volcanologist Clive Oppenheimer explores rich geological, historical, archaeological and palaeoenvironmental records (such as ice cores and tree rings) to tell the stories behind some of the greatest volcanic events of the past quarter of a billion years. He shows how a forensic approach to volcanology reveals the richness and complexity behind cause and effect, and argues that important lessons for future catastrophe risk management can be drawn from understanding events that took place even at the dawn of human origins.

This book is featured in the Cambridge Book Club!
For a reader's guide, an op-ed by the author, and a slideshow of major eruptions throughout history, click Read an online interview with the author on Vice! Click .

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, History, Geology, Geography, Nature, Environment

406 pages, Hardcover

First published May 26, 2011

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the title of this book after reading this I find the title appropriate albeit in a less sensasionalist kinda of way.
This book has shown how evidence from very different fields can show you a complete picture of what happened. Volcanology, geology, archaeology, anthropology, history, atmospheric science are all in play to look at the effect of what Volcanos have had on our world, civilizations and humanity by the impact of huge volcano eruptions.
This is not a book one can read easily unless one has some knowledge or is prepared to spend some serious Google time to look up stuff to understand some of the material that is explained in this book. Me being interested in the subject made me take a lot of time looking stuff up, felt like being back at school sometimes.
Anyhow the first 3 chapters are the most work theorywise. After that one can enjoy the story a lot more and all the fields taken into the story gives you a vastly better insight in the impact of volcanos and their eruptions.
This book is a tour-de-force when it comes to explaining the phenomonon of Volcanos. But prepared to spend some time with this book and it is well worth your time.
My next read due to this title will have to do with Human evolution as this also popped up in this book and I have questions.
Interested in volcanos this is the book to read.

[Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's hard to ignore someone when they've been in two of Werner Herzog's documentaries. Herzog has something of a grim reaper persona, if he ever darkens my doorway I expect to die soon, puts Clive Oppenheimer's perspective from geology to good use in the movie, Into the Inferno. Eruptions that Shook the World adds plenty of context to that movie in time, science, and human impact. He describes: the birth and death of species in terms of geologic time, Earth core structure, continental drift, magma and lava chemistry, types of eruptions, and the consequences of eruptions on humans. Finally, recent human activity is equated with long term volcanic activity that once affected the food chain on the lowest, that then led to mass extinctions. So, we're the grim reaper force of nature that is leading to the next mass extinction.

It's not dramatic writing as the title might lead one to believe. Some chapters read like a textbook. Herzog likes him. That's all good. It's the kind of book that goes well before or after a Mt. Saint Helens traipse.

[Mhd]

I got this book because it was mentioned favorably in a newspaper article and the topic is very interesting to me. Unfortunately, this book is not what I look for in my recreational reading. It reads much more like an academic journal article and about as disjointed had I jumped from journal to journal. A quotation from the preface: "I wrote this book because I became fascinated by the intersections of geology, climatology, ecology, archaeology and anthropology. ... It has been a challenge to synthesise such a divers and complex world. ..." Good idea, but a challenge not well met for the casual reader.

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

Several parts of this book were a bit technical for a layman such as I, but that's my flaw not the book's. Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I especially liked the way Clive gave other scientists' opinion, not a "I know it all" attitude. He also spent a good deal of the book citing what did happen to people and places in the past and what might happen in the future. Kind of scarey, yet people cope.

[Scottsdale Public Library]

It takes a sincere and scientific interest in volcanic activity and its effects to get into this book, but for those with that kind of inclination, it is invaluable. Not narrative nonfiction, it is nevertheless an extremely clear and lucid examination of volcanic processes, historical impacts, and current studies on the topic. While there are portions that descend into chemistry and physics formulae, they are generally quite brief, and the vast majority is perfectly readable for an interested layperson – like me. If this is your cup of tea (magma?), drink up! –Hillary D.

[Peter Traplin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely great! Extremely informative and well written. Explains volcanism from a historical and scientific perspective in an accessible way. From the forces behind volcanism to the impact on earth and society throughout history. This is the best book on volcanism I've ever had the pleasure of reading. If you like earth sciences, volcanoes or are just looking for an informative and entertaining read I highly recommend this book!

[Treasa Lynch · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is excellent in terms of how it weaves a number of different sciences together to give a more complete picture of the impacts of historical volcanic eruptions.

[Kisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not just a book about volcanoes. This is a book about changing balances in the world told through the impact of volcanoes. It teaches about history and human society in a truly fascinating tale about how immense catastrophes can influence evolution as well as politics. No eruption has ever been unique, and the fallout will forever be just as varied and interesting.

[Wang Yu · Rating 4 out of 5]

看了《火山挚恋》和《安魂曲》以后，想找本写火山的书看看，搜到了《Eruptions that shook the world》。书的作者是火山专家，一口气解释了火山的成因，类型，特点，研究火山的方法，以及历史上著名的喷发。作为大众读物，竟然还放进去不少公式，不知道编辑是怎么忍下这口气的。

火山这种大规模喷火、扬灰、放毒气的存在，经常对生物造成灾难性打击。按年代说，上古多个大灭绝事件的重点嫌疑犯就包括超级火山爆发。比如，2.4亿年前带走80%海洋物种和70%陆地物种的大死亡，6600万年前恐龙灭绝，等等。这种灭世级别的喷发谁也没见过，物种灭绝也可能与火山无关。无论如何，动辄几十万平方公里的火成岩覆盖区，作为大喷发的残留，给人留下无限遐想空间。

在人类演化史里经常被提到的，是大约7万年前印尼的Younger Toba火山爆发。这次喷发很可能导致了持续多年的全球低温天气，加上本来就处在冰期，人类祖先一定感受到了什么叫雪上加霜。这会不会造成了智人第二次走出非洲？有没有可能大规模杀伤了人类的远亲，为智人统治世界创造了有利条件？又或者智人也惨遭打击，我们共同的祖先只幸存下来一小撮，进而解释了全人类缺乏基因多样性的现状？这些，都没有确切答案。

人类文明出现以后，火山造成的实质打击非常有限。所有喷发加起来，死亡人数大概几十万，甚至比不上一场局部战争。但是，有幸丧命于火山的人，很可能在生命的最后一刻目睹了视觉奇观。

这种奇观并不是喷射的火焰，或者涌动的岩浆，因为它们的致死机会很小。想象有一团硕大无朋、奔涌翻滚的浓烟，夹裹着翻滚的石块，如同一只体温达到几百度的无定形巨兽，以每小时数百公里的速度奔袭而来，所过之处，生灵烬灭。这就是庞大、迅猛、无声无息的“火山碎屑流”。倒霉的庞贝人，就是被火山碎屑流封存进了时间胶囊。

恐怖、绝美的碎屑流，打击范围相对有限，也就几十上百公里以内。与之相比，喷射进大气平流层的硫化物，可以被带往全世界，对全球气候产生影响。1991年，菲律宾的Pinatubo突然喷发，指数6级，百年一遇的级别。不同于以往，20世纪90年的测量手段，足以帮助人类监测火山云的构成、发展和影响。上千万吨的二氧化硫进入大气之后，造成的遮挡效应导致次年全球平均温度降低了0.5摄氏度。其他影响还包括硫酸雨，对臭氧层的破坏等等。

整体上来说，冷夏暖冬是几次热带地区火山爆发后的变化。可是，例外也很多，比如有时候冬天的温度也会降低，甚至在冰岛1783年的Laki火山爆发后，记录显示了相反的结果：酷暑和寒冬。这种矛盾反映了火山学研究的难度，这种难度既来自有限的研究样本，也来自问题本身的复杂性。

火山是门跨学科的学问，涉及地质学，大气物理学，冰川学，植物学，化学，人类学，考古学，等等。对于文字记录之前的所有爆发，只能从遗留的蛛丝马迹里寻找脉络，比如地层成分，冰川沉积物，还有大树的年轮。早期的文字记录多为描述性文本，有时候一些现象被记录下来，记录者并没有意识到和火山有关，这又需要后来的研究者自己去建立联系。

所以，我感觉火山学是个三分证据七分脑补的解谜游戏，这也是其魅力的一部分。古老，神秘，摄人心魄的视觉美感，都给火山增添了浪漫色彩。在《火山挚恋》里，Katia and Maurice Krafft这对火山情侣，追逐着地球的血液与心跳，着迷到做好了随时献出生命的准备。

求仁得仁。当云仙岳火山的碎屑流奔涌而来的时候，这对夫妇很可能就静静地站在那里。很难想象Kraffts当时的心情，二人如此热爱火山和彼此，携手多次在火山与死神擦肩而过，也许在生命最后时刻的平静中两人甚至还有些许期待。

对于普通人来说，火山美学的心理基础是面对崇高、宏大事物所激发的战栗与臣服。世界上有几个游客可以近距离接触火山的地方，夏威夷和东非Nyiragongo常年有流动的熔岩湖，在冰岛和西西里附近的Stromboli有机会看到小规模的喷发，印尼多巴湖是七万年前Younger Toba那场万年一遇大爆发的遗迹。

事实上，火山几乎无所不在。比如美国黄石公园里就有一座休眠的超级火山，醒过来的话将造成灭世级的天灾。有趣的是，今天的科学能力无法预测爆发将在何时发生。

时刻准备着。

[melancholinary · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not expect this book to conclude with reflections on existential risk in the context of volcanism, accompanied by several geo-engineering proposals in the style of Rebecca Solnit (A Paradise Built in Hell). The subject of existential risk and its relationship to volcanism led me to view humanity’s contemplation of a single, cataclysmic event capable of causing our extinction as a form of contemporary catastrophism (rather than, say, the Earth’s slower, uniformitarian processes). It also prompted me to rethink the semantic meaning of “disaster,” since “natural disasters” never truly exist. We occupy environments that render us insignificant, and when those environments unleash forces that could annihilate us, it’s all too readily attributed to nature’s fault. This becomes especially intriguing when compared with the concept of a supereruption, underscoring that we really have no escape from the shackles of our own possible extinction.

Throughout the book, the tone is somewhat mixed, as it merges highly technical research with speculative ideas. As a volcano enthusiast—if one were to assign it a label—I found it genuinely enjoyable to read, yet its varied tone can occasionally become tiresome. Here, Clive Oppenheimer invites us to reflect on how both life and extinction can spring from the same source (life from hydrothermal-vent reflections to the East African Rift Valley and even Homo erectus migrations; extinction, of course, from events such as the Deccan Traps and Siberian Traps).

[Harry Rubin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved reading this book right before my 33rd birthday and in my last semester of my master's degree. I am studying a small Large Igneous Province (LIP), and I found this an invaluable resource for thinking about the big picture and the wider world.

I would separate this book into two parts. The first half is about how volcanoes work and why they erupt. It's essentially volcanology 101. The second half is about "super eruptions". These are eruptions on an inconceivable level. They have quite literally shaped human history and lead to mass extinctions.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone curious about volcanology, history and archeology. Just know the author is a volcanologist before you make the mistake of assuming it's all archeology. If you are looking for a book that's talking about the human experience then I would not recommend this book to you.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

To quote the author on p. 351 "'Eruptions that Shook the World' has aimed to show how evidence from very different fields (volcanology, geology, archaeology, anthropology, history, atmospheric science) can be applied to understand the impacts of major volcanic eruptions on the environment and global climate and, in particular, on human origins and society." He succeeds admirably in that aim. Rarely have I found a scientific specialist so aware of such a wide range of disciplines and how date from those field can help to understand volcanic eruptions. However, this is a hard read, as it it so densely packed with information.

[Yinxue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can not call it an easy read for a layman (e.g., myself). Some really technical parts mixed in with a few interesting chapters. Second half of the book went increasingly dull, listing major eruptions throughout time and across globe, in highly similar format and content. He also seems to wander off sometimes, spending surprising long time on findings from other disciplines (e.g., paleoanthropology). Caught myself wondering several times: how's this relevant to volcanism again?

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though I think this book is mainly aimed at an academic audience I really enjoyed it. I was nice to get past the simple mantle/magma/volcano diagram you see every where and learn more about what is going on. There were equations but I found it understandable.
The only problem I had with the book is a problem with the science. So often the author would talk about the size of volcanoes or modeling done or similar things and then explain how the results weren't entirely accurate because they had a uncertainty in orders of magnitude. That is the difference between 10 and 100 and 1000. I would think that if you have uncertainty that large you aren't estimating, you are guessing. THe huge amount of error involved in this science was a continual itch as I read it. I am sure in the future the science will advance and things will become more certain but the idea of running computer models and giving the answers as if they really were answers seems misleading at best.

[Penny · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted so much more on the topic from less of a deep science POV. I am much more interested in the archaeological and cultural impacts of volcanism than I am in being hit over the head with sulphur emissions information. The ace ice is relevant....but so much of it? I ended up scrolling though about 75% of the book to get to the stories I wanted to read: displaced societies, eruptions in oral history, what has been found in various digs. Large scale events that affected the entire planet climate systems, causing famine etc, were well covered but overall I was very disappointed.

[Michele bookloverforever · Rating 3 out of 5]

definitely written for students and academics but lots of really good information found even for a lay reader such as myself. the author leans towards the Deccan traps as the cause of dinosaur extinction rather than the asteroid theory. I think it was both.

[Jamie Farquharson · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent review of world-changing volcanic eruptions.

Oppenheimer brings together archaeology, documentary history, climate science, anthropology, volcanology, and numerous other disciplines in a manner both engaging and informative.

[Doris Raines · Rating 4 out of 5]

I. Want. This. Book. In. My. Libary.

[Rachel (Sfogs) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing book! So much information and knowledge. I just loved it!

[Harrywaters]

Via herzog into inferno