Awe meaning dread mixed with veneration. Awe meaning “solemn and reverential wonder, tinged with … fear, inspired by what is … sublime and majestic in nature,” according to the OED.
Toba.
Toba was the largest volcanic explosion of the past two million years. Toba Volcano blew 74,000 years ago.
Priscilla Long discusses volcanoes, destruction, and the true meaning of awesome. Read Toba.
(Photo via The Atlantic. Claudio Santana/AFP/Getty Images)
