NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
Potential climate impact of Mount Pinatubo eruptionThe GISS global-climate model is used to make a preliminary estimate of Mount Pinatubo's climate impact. Assuming the aerosol optical depth is nearly twice as great as for the 1982 El Chichon eruption, the model forecasts a dramatic but temporary break in recent global warming trends. The simulations indicate that Pinatubo occurred too late in the year to prevent 1991 from becoming one of the warmest years in instrumental records, but intense aerosol cooling is predicted to begin late in 1991 and to maximize late in 1992. The predicted cooling is sufficiently large that by mid 1992 it should even overwhelm global warming associated with an El Nino that appears to be developing, but the El Nino could shift the time of minimum global temperature into 1993. The model predicts a return to record warm levels in the later 1990s. The effect is estimated of the predicted global cooling on such practical matters as the severity of the coming Soviet winter and the dates of cherry blossoming next spring.
Document ID
19920041613
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Hansen, James
(NASA Goddard Inst. for Space Studies New York, NY, United States)
Lacis, Andrew
(NASA Goddard Inst. for Space Studies New York, NY, United States)
Ruedy, Reto
(NASA Goddard Inst. for Space Studies New York, NY, United States)
Sato, Makiko
(NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies New York, United States)
Date Acquired
August 15, 2013
Publication Date
January 24, 1992
Publication Information
Publication: Geophysical Research Letters
Volume: 19
ISSN: 0094-8276
Subject Category
Meteorology And Climatology
Accession Number
92A24237
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available