Bailey.Academic_Writing

28 The Writing Process: Reading and Note-making
6. You are preparing to write an essay on ‘The impact of climate
on history’. The text below is taken from page 221 of a book
called Volcanic Disasters by E. B. Pitnam, published in 1993.
Underline the relevant points and make notes.
One of the greatest explosions in modern history
occurred in 1815, when an Indonesian volcano called
Mt. Tambora blew up. The eruption involved about 100
cubic kilometres of material being blown into the sky, with
huge loss of life both on land and sea. Large quantities of
volcanic dust were ejected into the atmosphere, and this
dust gradually spread around the world, causing alarming
events on the other side of the world.
In New England in north-eastern USA farmers were hit by
bitterly cold weather in June and July 1816. Much of the
harvest was lost due to repeated waves of frost and snow
in the middle of summer. The same pattern was recorded
in Europe, where agriculture was still suffering the effects
of the Napoleonic Wars. In France wheat prices reached
their highest point of the century in 1817.
As European demand for food rose, prices doubled in
America. Although some profited from the shortages,
others were driven to emigrate into the unexplored lands
to the west. Numbers leaving Vermont, for example,
increased by 100% between 1816 and 1817.