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Year without a summer

April 24th, 2007

The nice weather in Palo Alto, which seems to be stuck in eternal spring, somehow reminded me of the other extreme — 1816, the “Year Without a Summer.”

In that year, a volcanic eruption caused a pronounced cooling effect on the northern hemisphere. Ice on lakes in July? Pennsylvania had it. Widespread famine? Europe experienced it. The good news is that the climactic abnormality helped to spur invention, exploration, and creativity (e.g., a precursor to the bicycle, travel west from New England, and Frankenstein)

I wonder if our current climate change will spark such ingenuity?

(This post is part of the 100/100/100 challenge)

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