Eruptions That Shook The World

Posted on 17 October 2018 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 here Read an online interview with the author on Vice Click here. Download Eruptions That Shook The World – kino-fada.fr 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 s...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, mag 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 wel...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 t...This book is excellent in terms of how it weaves a number of different sciences together to give acomplete picture of the impacts of historical volcanic eruptions.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...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 learnabout 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 s...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 muchlike 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 sy I got this book because it was mention...I wanted so muchon the topic from less of a deep science POV I am muchinterested 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 di...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.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.

17 October 2018

Clive Oppenheimer