Should We Be Praying for a Massive Volcanic Eruption?

An improbable planetary pause button on warming to save us from ourselves — is this what it takes?

Massive Lanin volcano in Argentina (photo by author)

It was the kind of midsummer radiance you only find in Iceland — a sky that forgets to dim, shadows stretched thin like whispers across moss-covered lava fields. People moved slowly under the sun, blinking and grateful. Children played past midnight, unaware that the night was unfolding above them. Elders pulled chairs to porches, soaking in the gold.

And then, without warning, day collapsed into night.

First, a subtle paling; then, a silence so profound it rang in the ears. Dust veiled the sun, turning day into dusk. Eyes strained upward, searching for answers. Was this the end? Had Thor finally unsheathed his wrath? Was this Loki’s latest trickery?

But soon, word spread.

It wasn’t the Gods.

The Earth had opened its throat.

In June 1783, tore open the Icelandic crust and poured hell onto the surface in fire walls six stories high. For eight months, a curtain of sulfur and ash cloaked the North Atlantic. Famine stalked the countryside. Livestock died by the tens of thousands, their teeth falling out from poisoned…