jake
11-01-2010, 07:33 PM
Hi there,
Another thread on this board "dealing with volcanic ash" got me thinking today about how to deal with the possible climactic effects of a large volcanic eruption... just as a brainstorming exercise, of course. There is nothing like this on the horizon, and I hope there never will be!
Closer to the volcano, you would obviously have to worry about the falling ash. On the other side of the planet however, it is the general climactic changes that you would have to worry about. This is the situation I would like to consider. When a very large volcano exploded in Indonesia in 1815, it released large amount of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere, which caused unseasonal temperature changes to occur all over. Here is a good page I found about it:
http://www.earlham.edu/~ethribe/web/tambora.htm
The page has some interesting facts:
a) it took a year for the changes in climate to occur around the world after the event
b) the climate changes were described as:
"The summer temperatures in 1816 averaged just a few degrees below normal, but as mentioned, it frosted throughout the summer. The highs were still close to 100 degrees Fahrenheit on some days. However, the cold spells, especially at night, cause massive crop failure, and, as a result, even more famine. "
I'm NOT worried about this happening now btw...I just want to brainstorm a bit with you about "what if" it did, and what the best way to survive it would be.
I am assuming in this "year without a summer" situation, there would not be visible ash in the sky...so, sunlight would be getting through just fine, or at least the skys would not be too dark. You wouldn't have to deal with falling ash in your area. The main challenge would be dealing with extreme temperature variations that would make growing food crops difficult.
Say that it seemed like such a situation was coming down the tubes...say you were expecting this next summer, and that these temperature variations would last for at least 2 years. As I said, the weather would seem "somewhat" normal, but the occasional summer frost would just kill your crops...what would you do to survive in this scenario?
(I know there would be huge security issues from other people if this happened, but that is a given. I just want to talk about what could be done to ensure your own food supply here...).
My answer to this situation would be to:
a) stock up food to carry you through as long as possible! I am assuming however that you would run out of your supplies at one point, and thus would need to harvest new food as well.
b) collect as much clear PVC plastic sheeting now as you can, in order to to cover your vegetable garden rows each day, to protect them from killing frosts.
c) start now to build old fashioned "hot beds" of manure, with glassed-in tops, to also provide protection against killer frosts.
d) make sure that I have all the hunting and fishing gear that I might need during this time. I would think that the fish populations in lakes and rivers would be relatively stable during this event.
e) maybe set up a solar-powered heating system of some sort, to heat a larger greenhouse...what's the easiest way to do this?
Everybody, what are your thoughts on how best to survive this scenario of fluctuating, unseasonal weather patterns? Any food crops or animal feed crops that are especially resistant to frost?
Another thread on this board "dealing with volcanic ash" got me thinking today about how to deal with the possible climactic effects of a large volcanic eruption... just as a brainstorming exercise, of course. There is nothing like this on the horizon, and I hope there never will be!
Closer to the volcano, you would obviously have to worry about the falling ash. On the other side of the planet however, it is the general climactic changes that you would have to worry about. This is the situation I would like to consider. When a very large volcano exploded in Indonesia in 1815, it released large amount of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere, which caused unseasonal temperature changes to occur all over. Here is a good page I found about it:
http://www.earlham.edu/~ethribe/web/tambora.htm
The page has some interesting facts:
a) it took a year for the changes in climate to occur around the world after the event
b) the climate changes were described as:
"The summer temperatures in 1816 averaged just a few degrees below normal, but as mentioned, it frosted throughout the summer. The highs were still close to 100 degrees Fahrenheit on some days. However, the cold spells, especially at night, cause massive crop failure, and, as a result, even more famine. "
I'm NOT worried about this happening now btw...I just want to brainstorm a bit with you about "what if" it did, and what the best way to survive it would be.
I am assuming in this "year without a summer" situation, there would not be visible ash in the sky...so, sunlight would be getting through just fine, or at least the skys would not be too dark. You wouldn't have to deal with falling ash in your area. The main challenge would be dealing with extreme temperature variations that would make growing food crops difficult.
Say that it seemed like such a situation was coming down the tubes...say you were expecting this next summer, and that these temperature variations would last for at least 2 years. As I said, the weather would seem "somewhat" normal, but the occasional summer frost would just kill your crops...what would you do to survive in this scenario?
(I know there would be huge security issues from other people if this happened, but that is a given. I just want to talk about what could be done to ensure your own food supply here...).
My answer to this situation would be to:
a) stock up food to carry you through as long as possible! I am assuming however that you would run out of your supplies at one point, and thus would need to harvest new food as well.
b) collect as much clear PVC plastic sheeting now as you can, in order to to cover your vegetable garden rows each day, to protect them from killing frosts.
c) start now to build old fashioned "hot beds" of manure, with glassed-in tops, to also provide protection against killer frosts.
d) make sure that I have all the hunting and fishing gear that I might need during this time. I would think that the fish populations in lakes and rivers would be relatively stable during this event.
e) maybe set up a solar-powered heating system of some sort, to heat a larger greenhouse...what's the easiest way to do this?
Everybody, what are your thoughts on how best to survive this scenario of fluctuating, unseasonal weather patterns? Any food crops or animal feed crops that are especially resistant to frost?