According to a study that was partly funded by NASA, ‘volcanic eruptions in high-latitudes can greatly alter climate and distant river flows, including the Nile.’ The Nile River is the world’s longest river.

The research states that ‘Iceland’s Laki volcanic event, a series of about ten eruptions from June 1783 through February 1784, significantly changed atmospheric circulations across much of the Northern Hemisphere creating unusual temperature and precipitation patterns that peaked in the summer of 1783, including far below normal rainfall over much of the Nile River watershed and record low river levels.’

The research findings reveal the never-before determined conclusion that ‘large volcanic eruptions north of the equator often have far different impacts on climate than those in the tropics.’

According to Luke Oman of Rutgers University, “While considerable research has shown that eruptions in the tropics influence climate in the Northern Hemisphere winter, this study indicates that eruptions in high-latitudes produce changes in atmospheric circulation in the Northern Hemisphere summer.”

With the use of the high-tech computer model from NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, the study’s researchers ‘linked the Laki eruptions to a cascade of effects that rippled across much of the Northern Hemisphere, altering surface temperatures that ultimately resulted in much below normal rainfall over the Sahel of Africa and record low water levels on the Nile River for up to a year. The Sahel is a stretch of land from the Atlantic Ocean to the “Horn of Africa” that includes the Sahara Desert and savanna areas with sparse vegetation.’

Via The Daily Galaxy