Frankenstein (1818) by Mary Shelley is the product of a natural disaster. Three years before its publication, Mount Tambora erupted in Indonesia. It is still the biggest volcano eruption in recorded history, and in its wake, the world plunged into cold and darkness in what was described as the Year Without a Summer. It was during this year that Shelley wrote Frankenstein, and, according to Kate Marvel, “it could not have been written at any other time” (59).

“Wordwide, dirty air is estimated to have contributed to more than 11 percent of total deaths” (193).

Humans have been affecting atmospheric lead levels for centuries. This fact reminds me not to underestimate the environmental impact of humans even before the industrial revolution. Old air trapped in ice cores records atmospheric lead levels that fluctuate with major historical events such as the Black Death and the fall of Rome (196-197).

A third of food produced worldwide is never consumed (201).

Between about 1000 and 1400 CE, there was a colony of Icelanders on Greenland (2). Unaccustomed to arctic conditions, they stayed on the south of the island, and probably never realized that they were not alone. Hundreds of miles north of them, Inuit communities were living in much harsher conditions that even the Vikings couldn’t handle (15).

Permanent settlement began in Iceland in 874 CE (7).

When Erik the Red first landed in Greenland in 983 CE and immediately named it, the name “Greenland” was maybe a “sincere advertisement” (15) rather than a deception to get more people to visit. He landed during the summer and at the southern tip of the island — the greenest part of the whole country.

Erik the Red settled Greenland; his son was Leif Eriksson! (18)