Volcanic eruptions and climate

Volcanic Eruptions and Climate

Volcanic eruptions are an important natural cause of climate change on many timescales. A new capability to predict the climatic response to a large tropical eruption for the succeeding 2 years will prove valuable to society. In addition, to detect and attribute anthropogenic influences on climate, including effects of greenhouse gases, aerosols, and ozone-depleting chemicals, it is crucial to ...

Satellite observations of air quality, climate and volcanic eruptions

Nitrogen oxides (NOx, the collective name for NO and NO2) play an important role in atmospheric chemistry and in the climate system as precursor of tropospheric ozone, an important greenhouse gas. The most important source of NOx is the combustion of fossil fuels, mainly by traffic and large power plants. Other important contributors are the burning of biomass, soil emissions and lightning. Clo...

Volcanic Eruptions

Dynamic winter climate response to large tropical volcanic eruptions

[1] We have analyzed the mean climate response pattern following large tropical volcanic eruptions back to the beginning of the 17th century using a combination of proxybased reconstructions and modern instrumental records of cold-season surface air temperature. Warm anomalies occur throughout northern Eurasia, while cool anomalies cover northern Africa and the Middle East, extending all the wa...

Forecasting volcanic eruptions

Forecasting is a central goal of volcanology. Intensive monitoring of recent eruptions has generated integrated timeseries of data, which have resulted in several successful examples of warnings being issued on impending eruptions. Ability to forecast is being advanced by new technology, such as broad-band seismology, satellite observations of ground deformation and improved field spectrometers...