Researchers have long debated the exact date of the Thera volcanic eruption. New research gets scientists closer to an answer than ever before.

The Inuit tell stories about the year that summer never arrived. Tree rings from 1783 confirm that the Laki volcano in Iceland caused the cooldown.

Though it's been hotly debated for decades, tree rings may pin down the year the Thera volcano erupted over the Minoan civilization.

Widespread "perfect droughts" affect southern California water sources about six times a century, according to a study of tree rings going back to 1126.