In the summer of 1831, an enormous volcanic eruption spewed sulfur gas into Earth’s atmosphere. The particles scattered sunlight, making our star appear green, purple and blue. Its rays struggled to reach the planet’s surface,

Zavaritskii volcano in the Kuril Islands was responsible for the mysterious 1831 volcanic eruption that cooled the climate and turned the sun different colors, a new study finds.

While scientists have known that the major climate event reported during this period was caused by volcanic activity, the exact identity and location of the volcano remained a mystery – until now. A new study published in the journal PNAS found the Zavaritskii volcano on the remote,

Scientists Make Groundbreaking Discovery About a Volcanic Eruption That Almost Turned the Sun Blue Scientists solved the 200-year-old mystery of the location of a large volcanic eruption that exerted a massive volume of gases which blocked sunlight and made the sun look blue.

In the summer of 1831, people across the Northern Hemisphere experienced bizarre and unsettling phenomena: the sun appeared blue, purple, and even green, and temperatures dropped dramatically during what should have been the warmest months of the year.

In 1831, the Earth shuddered. A massive volcano erupted with such ferocity that it dimmed the skies and cooled the planet. Crops failed, famine spread, and the Northern Hemisphere entered a climate-altered reality.