ADAM: He’s often credited with that, apparently. But a French naturalist beat him to it – I can’t remember his name. I’d have to look it up. Then other naturalists had the same idea – all independently of each other.
MICHELLE: Oh right. We should talk about the immediate impact of the eruption, which was obviously enormous- especially in Iceland, where so many people died.
ADAM: Mmm. You’d expect that- and the fact that the volcanic ash drifted so swiftly – but not that the effects would go on for so long. Or that two years after the eruption, strange weather events were being reported as far away as North America and North Africa.
MICHELLE: No. I found all that hard to believe too. It must have been terrible- and there was nothing anyone could do about it, even if they knew the ash cloud was coming in their direction.