The hidden culprit caused Napoleon to defeat at the Battle of Waterloo

Napoleon Bonaparte did not anticipate a volcanic eruption at the other end of the world that contributed to his failure in the coalition at Waterloo.

An intense volcanic eruption in Indonesia led to humid and muddy conditions, contributing to the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Waterloo , according to Phys.org. The study published in Geology magazine links the Tambora volcanic eruption and the battle.

Historians know the wet and muddy conditions helped the British-led coalition defeat the French emperor Napoleon during the battle in Waterloo. The battle on June 18, 1815 completely changed European history. Two months earlier, Tambora volcano on Indonesia's island of Sumbawa, erupted, killed 100,000 people and caused the Earth to spend a year without summer in 1816.

Waterloo is the last battle of the French emperor Napoleon.(Photo: Hulton Archive).

Dr. Matthew Genge of the Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London University, discovered volcanic ash charged from the eruption could form a short circuit that leads electricity in the ionosphere, the upper layer of gas The book is responsible for cloud formation. Dr. Genge pointed out that the Tambora volcanic eruption dragged thunderclouds, causing heavy rain across Europe, contributing to the defeat of Napoleon's emperor.

The study found that eruptions could spray ash into the atmosphere at altitudes much higher than previously thought, 100 kilometers above the ground."Previously, geologists thought that volcanic ash was trapped in the atmosphere below, because the ash column floated up. However, my research proved that ash could be sprayed straight up the floor. The atmosphere above is due to electrical force, " said Dr. Genge.

A series of experiments showed that electrostatic force can lift ash much higher than floating. Dr. Genge created a model to calculate how volatile volcanic ash can float, and found that particles smaller than 0.2 millimeters in diameter could reach the ionosphere in eruptions. great. "The ash column and volcanic ash can be negatively charged, tie the ashes and push the ash away, lift them up high. The effect is very similar to the two magnets pushed apart if the two ends are" , Dr. Genge explains. .

Experimental results are consistent with historical records from other eruptions. The weather record was minimal in 1815, so to test his hypothesis, Dr. Genge reviewed the weather after the 1883 eruption of another Indonesian volcano, Krakatau. Data show that average temperature and rainfall are lower almost immediately after the eruption begins, and global rainfall in the eruption is lower than before and after.

Dr. Genge also found reports of disturbances in the ionosphere after the 1991 eruption of Pinatubo volcano, Philippines, possibly due to charged ash fly to this level from the ash column. In addition, there is a special type of cloud that appears more frequently after the Krakatau volcanic eruption. Glowing luminous clouds are rare and formed in the ionosphere. Dr. Genge argues that these clouds provide evidence of suspended electrolytic ash from a massive eruption.