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Cooling following large volcanic eruptions corrected for the effect of diffuse radiation on tree rings
Author(s) -
Robock Alan
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2004gl022116
Subject(s) - volcano , proxy (statistics) , northern hemisphere , dendrochronology , climatology , geology , global cooling , climate change , southern hemisphere , vulcanian eruption , atmospheric sciences , environmental science , earth science , seismology , paleontology , oceanography , machine learning , computer science
The lack of a larger cooling in proxy records of climate change following large volcanic eruptions such as those of Tambora in 1815 and Krakatau in 1883 has long been a puzzle for climatologists. These records, however, may have been biased by enhanced tree growth for several years following each eruption induced by additional diffuse radiation caused by the stratospheric volcanic aerosol clouds from the eruptions. By comparing proxy reconstructions of climate with and without tree ring data, this effect is demonstrated for the five largest eruptions for the period 1750–1980. When proxy records of Northern Hemisphere climate change are corrected for this proposed diffuse effect, there is no impact on climate change for time scales longer than 20 years. However, it now appears that there was a hemispheric cooling of about 0.6°C for a decade following the unknown volcanic eruption of 1809 and Tambora in 1815, and a cooling of 0.3°C for several years following the Krakatau eruption of 1883.