The original post: /r/askscience by /u/Notoriouslydishonest on 2025-03-09 19:44:18.

I was looking at the list of large volcanic eruptions and I noticed that the 19th century stands out as being unusually active. There were five eruptions with a VEI of 6 or greater between 1815 and 1912, compared to just two in the 113 years since then and one in the 200 years prior.

Is that just a random coincidence, or are there forces which affect volcanic activity on the global scale?