Volcanic eruptions can affect the Earth’s climate system, and climate variability occupies an uncomfortable place in historical enquiry. Even though human demography and history are closely connected with environmental conditions and change, most historians and archaeologists have been reluctant to consider climate for understanding political, economic, social and cultural transformations. Much of the scholarship addressing these complex relationships continues to be constrained by the disciplinary limits of individuals and institutions.
From November 2021 to January 2024 volcanologist Clive Oppenheimer and Ulf Büntgen, professor of Environmental Systems Analysis, were part of the ZiF long-term research group “Volcanoes, Climate and History”. The research group engaged with the interface of climate and history in a new way, beginning with the premise that exchange and dialogue across disciplinary and epistemological divides should be habitual practice. The research process was not only documented in scientific publications, but also in a film, entitled “Volcano Voices. From Ashes to Archives and Art”. In this Film Clive Oppenheimer leads a journey through time and ideas, where scientists and artists come together - united by curiosity and the joy of collaboration - to explore how volcanic eruptions changed climate and history.

In this episode, Clive Oppenheimer and Ulf Büntgen talk about film as a means of science communication and the challenges of making complex research accessible for a wider audience.

 

Links
Ulf Büntgen
Clive Oppenheimer
The research group “Volcanoes, Climate and History”
The film screening at ZiF 

 

 

Further reading
Büntgen U, Cosmo N, Esper J, Frachetti M, Khalidi L, Mauelshagen F, Rohland E, Oppenheimer C (2026) Volcanoes, Climate, and Society. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences.
Clive Oppenheimer: Mountains of Fire The Secret Lives of Volcanoes. London, Hodder & Stoughton, 2023