L’Éruption du Lakagígar en Islande ou ‘Annus Mirabilis 1783’ - Chronique d’une année extraodinaire

Abstract

During 1783 a Great Dry Fog (GDF) enveloped the Northern Hemisphere for several months. The origin of this was the fissure eruption associated with the volcano Laki in Iceland which began on 8 June 1783. However, news of the eruption did not reach Europe until 1 September 1783 when ships from Iceland reached Copenhagen. News then spread to the rest of Europe where scientists had not known the exact origin of the fog. As there had been so many recent events in the form of meteorological, hydrological, and geophysical phenomena, as well as many epidemics, many explanations had been offered for it. At that time, scientists responded in line with the classical, but already outmoded, theory of Archimedes’ Meteorologica, as well as new ideas regarding electricity in the atmosphere. Benjamin Franklin was one of the first scientists to establish the connection between a volcanic eruption and a long and severe winter following this. The hypothesis that there is a connection between the Lakagígar eruption and the level of the Nile River in Egypt will be discussed. In this regard, the meteorological and hydrological phenomena of the year 1783 may be seen in the context of a multi-year warming ENSO event.