A、They were evident in the decreased world temperature. B、They were of several days’ duration worldwide. C、They were felt mainly

Scientists claim that air pollution causes a decline in the world’s average air temperature. In order to prove that theory, ecologists have turned to historical data in relation to especially huge volcanic eruptions. They suspect that volcanoes effect weather changes that are similar to air pollution.
    One source of information is the effect of the eruption of Tambora, a volcano in Sumbawa, the Dutch East In- dies—the former name of the Republic of Indonesia—in April 1815. The largest recorded volcanic eruption, Tambora threw 150 million tons of fine ash into the sky. The ash from a volcano spreads worldwide in a few days and re- mains in the air for years. Its effect is to turn incoming solar radiation into space and thus cool the earth. For example, records of weather in England show that between April and November 1815, the average temperature had fallen 4.5 F. During the next twenty four months, England suffered one of the coldest periods of its history. Farmers’ records from April 1815 to December 1818 indicate frost throughout the spring and summer and sharp decreases in crop and livestock markets. Since there was a time lag of several years between cause and effect, by the time the world agricultural commodity community had deteriorated, no one realized the cause.
    Ecologists today ware that we face a twofold menace. The ever-present possibility of volcanic eruption, such as that of Mt. St. Helens in Washington, added to man’s pollution of the atmosphere with oil, gas, coal, and other polluting substances, may bring us increasingly colder weather.