climate shock
Enormous eruptions altered Earth’s climate and societies all over the globe.
The Indonesian volcano known as Anak Krakatau, or Child of Krakatau, emerged in the 1920s from the underwater ruins of the larger Krakatau volcano that erupted devastatingly in 1883. Here, the volcano erupts in 2018.
FERDI AWED/AFP via Getty Images
The first telegram arrived in Singapore on a Monday, sent from the city of Batavia in the Dutch East Indies (now Jakarta, Indonesia). “Terrific detonations from Krakatau (volcanic island),” it reported. Soon afterward: “Stones falling. Village near Anjer washed away.” The wires continued clattering out news of bridges destroyed, boats smashed, lighthouses “disappeared.” By noon on Tuesday, the scope of the natural disaster was clear: “Where once Mount Krakatau stood the sea now plays.”
