“More poison than words can describe”: What did people (not) die of after the 1783 Laki eruption? ...
<!--!introduction!--> The 1783 Laki (Skaftáreldar) eruption in Iceland was followed by a severe mortality crisis there (8000 excess deaths 1784-85, about 1/6 of the population), which has been attributed to famine caused by loss of livestock due to fluorine poisoning. Since the 1990ies, it has...
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| Format: | Conference Object |
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GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences
2023
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| Online Access: | https://dx.doi.org/10.57757/iugg23-3690 https://gfzpublic.gfz-potsdam.de/pubman/item/item_5020852 |
| Summary: | <!--!introduction!--> The 1783 Laki (Skaftáreldar) eruption in Iceland was followed by a severe mortality crisis there (8000 excess deaths 1784-85, about 1/6 of the population), which has been attributed to famine caused by loss of livestock due to fluorine poisoning. Since the 1990ies, it has been suggested that air pollution from the eruption also caused a significant mortality increase in Western Europe around September 1783. This led to suggestions that air pollution and fluorine poisoning directly contributed to human mortality in Iceland. We review the potential impact of pollution and fluorine poisoning on human mortality, using contemporary Icelandic letters and parish registries and estimates of aerosol concentrations and fluorine uptake. Mortality in Iceland was complex, with no increase during the eruption, a peak in spring 1784 in the Northeast and a second peak in winter 1784-85 in the West. This can largely be explained by the interplay of previous weather conditions and volcanic ... : The 28th IUGG General Assembly (IUGG2023) (Berlin 2023) ... |
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