you guys know i'm a history hack.....

[musclehead]

meaning I'm not obsessed wit it but I study when I can.

the year was 1816 or as we Americans called it "eighteen hundred and froze to death". this was the year there was no summer several large volcanoes erupted and played a part in keep the earth staying cool. tambora in indonesia realeased 140 gigatons on magma in 1815 it also released millions of tons of fine ash into the atmosphere that spread around the world partially blocking the sun. this took place during an extended period of low solar output called the Dalton minimum which lasted from 1795 to the 1820s.

june rolled around and had a few days of 90 degree temps, shortly thereafter temps dropped low enough to kill birds and make the trees drop leaves that weren't even unfolded yet. this was in the northeast, temps in the 40's.
droughts, floods, summertime frosts, and diseases.

by August there was another wave of frost and snow that killed off the fruits, vegtables and vines. wheat and rye yeilded enough to see the country through the winter but speculation drove prices up from $3 a barrel to $20 a barrel.

just another problem with life on this planet, we could be invaded by aliens or they might create a black hole that could destroy the world. but it's far more likely we will experience a weather related problem

[The Anvil]

Check out the book Krakatoa. I can't recall the author's name at the moment but it's a good read.

[jer0177]

just another problem with life on this planet, we could be invaded by aliens or they might create a black hole that could destroy the world. but it's far more likely we will experience a weather related problem

I completely agree, and global warming is a natural cycle of the Earth's climate.

Look at how el Nino and la Nina affect the North American continent - and that's something that changes on a very regular cycle. 

This planet has had ice ages, "greenhouse" ages, impacts from extraterrestrial objects, volcanic eruptions large enough to completely block out the sun and enough plate tectonic and earthquake activity to astound anyone that wants to really research it, but life on this planet has always managed to survive, albeit changed, in some form. 

Yes, there may be a day when something happens to this planet that the Human race can't weather, considering we really do have a narrow temperate range (at least as we're evolved currently), and are susceptible to illness caused by too much radiation, but there are organisms on this planet that thrive in sub-freezing temperatures, and at temperatures high enough to peel the flesh right off our bones, and that can even withstand 5,000 times the radiation it would take to kill a human (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deinococcus_radiodurans), and life is life.

[musclehead]

Check out the book Krakatoa. I can't recall the author's name at the moment but it's a good read.

that was the loudest noise ever heard by modern man, heard over 2000 miles away.

it's not done either, anat krakatoa or son of krakatoa is growing by the day.