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Volcanic Eruptions and ClimateVolcanic eruptions represent some of the most climatically important and societally disruptive short-term events in human history. Large eruptions inject ash, dust, sulfurous gases (e.g. SO2, H2S), halogens (e.g. Hcl and Hbr), and water vapor into the Earth's atmosphere. Sulfurous emissions principally interact with the climate by converting into sulfate aerosols that reduce incoming solar radiation, warming the stratosphere and altering ozone creation, reducing global mean surface temperature, and suppressing the hydrological cycle. In this issue, we focus on the history, processes, and consequences of these large eruptions that inject enough material into the stratosphere to significantly affect the climate system. In terms of the changes wrought on the energy balance of the Earth System, these transient events can temporarily have a radiative forcing magnitude larger than the range of solar, greenhouse gas, and land use variability over the last millennium. In simulations as well as modern and paleoclimate observations, volcanic eruptions cause large inter-annual to decadal-scale changes in climate. Active debates persist concerning their role in longer-term (multi-decadal to centennial) modification of the Earth System, however.
Document ID
20160000376
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
LeGrande, Allegra N.
(NASA Goddard Inst. for Space Studies New York, NY United States)
Anchukaitis, Kevin J.
(Arizona Univ. Tucson, AZ, United States)
Date Acquired
January 6, 2016
Publication Date
December 1, 2015
Publication Information
Publication: PAGES Magazine
Publisher: PAGES (Past Global Changes)
Volume: 23
Issue: 2
Subject Category
Meteorology And Climatology
Report/Patent Number
GSFC-E-DAA-TN28747
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX14AB99A
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
Volcanoes
Stratosphere
Climate

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