In 1883, Krakatoa erupted in the Sunda Strait with explosions heard thousands of kilometres away. Tsunamis devastated nearby coasts, and volcanic aerosols produced spectacular red sunsets around the world. Telegraphy and newspapers made the eruption one of the first global environmental media events.

The strange sunsets entered Victorian diaries, poems, and visual culture as signs of a connected planet. For poets, Krakatoa turned sky colour into historical evidence, making atmosphere itself a medium through which distant catastrophe could be felt.