ADAM: So, Michelle, shall we make a start on our presentation? We haven’t got that much time left.

MICHELLE: No, Adam. But at least we’ve done all the background reading. I found it really interesting – I’d never even heard of the Laki eruption before this.

ADAM: Me neither. I suppose 1783 is a long time ago.

MICHELLE: But it was a huge eruption and it had such devastating consequences.

ADAM: I know. It was great there were so many primary sources to look at. It really gives you a sense of how catastrophic the volcano was. People were really trying to make sense of the science for the first time.

MICHELLE: That’s right. But what I found more significant was how it impacted directly and indirectly on political events, as well as having massive social and economic consequences.

ADAM: I know. That should be the main focus of our presentation.

MICHELLE: The observations made by people at the time were interesting, weren’t they? I mean, they all gave a pretty consistent account of what happened, even if they didn’t always use the same terminology.

ADAM: Yeah. I was surprised there were so many weather stations established by that time – so, you know, you can see how the weather changed, often by the hour.

MICHELLE: Right. Writers at the time talked about the Laki haze to describe the volcanic fog that spread across Europe. They all realised that this wasn’t the sort of fog they were used to – and of course this was in pre-industrial times- so they hadn’t experienced sulphur-smelling fog before.

ADAM: No, that’s true.

MICHELLE: Reports from the period blamed the haze for an increase in headaches, respiratory issues and asthma attacks. And they all describe how it covered the sun and made it look a strange red colour.

ADAM: Must have been very weird.

MICHELLE: It’s interesting that Benjamin Franklin wrote about the haze. Did you read that? He was the American ambassador in Paris at the time.

ADAM: Yeah. At first no one realised that the haze was caused by the volcanic eruption in Iceland.

MICHELLE: It was Benjamin Franklin who realised that before anyone else.