A study finds persistent global and seasonal hydroclimatic effects from large tropical volcanic eruptions. Volcanic eruptions can affect Earth's climate, but the hydroclimatic impacts of large tropical eruptions remain incompletely understood. Ernesto Tejedor and colleagues estimated the global and seasonal hydroclimate impacts of all known tropical volcanic eruptions over the last millennium that were larger than the 1991 Mt. Pinatubo eruption. The analysis revealed that large volcanic eruptions were followed by anomalously dry conditions over tropical Africa, Central Asia, and the Middle East, whereas Oceania and the South American monsoon regions experienced wet conditions following eruptions. In some regions, the climate anomalies persisted for a decade or more and were associated with sea surface temperature changes in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. The authors compared the proxy-based results with a standalone global climate model and found that the climate effects of tropical volcanic eruptions estimated from the proxy-based results were larger and more persistent than those in the standalone model. According to the authors, understanding why a discrepancy exists between hydroclimate effects estimated from a proxy-based product and a standalone climate model is critical for uncovering how future eruptions may affect the global climate, even as the eruptions superimpose on impacts from anthropogenic climate change.
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Article #20-19145:
"Global hydroclimatic response to tropical volcanic eruptions over the Last Millennium," by Ernesto Tejedor, Nathan J. Steiger, Jason E. Smerdon, Roberto Serrano-Notivoli, and Mathias Vuille.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Ernesto Tejedor,
University at Albany - State University of New York, Albany, NY;
tel: 518-248-8347;
email: <etejedor@albany.edu>