Timing and climate forcing of volcanic eruptions for the past 2,500 years

M. Sigl, M. Winstrup, J. R. McConnell (), K. C. Welten, G. Plunkett, F. Ludlow, U. Büntgen, M. Caffee, N. Chellman, D. Dahl-Jensen, H. Fischer, S. Kipfstuhl, C. Kostick, O. J. Maselli, F. Mekhaldi, R. Mulvaney, R. Muscheler, D. R. Pasteris, J. R. Pilcher, M. Salzer, S. Schüpbach, J. P. Steffensen, B. M. Vinther and T. E. Woodruff
Additional contact information
M. Sigl: Desert Research Institute, Nevada System of Higher Education
M. Winstrup: University of Washington
J. R. McConnell: Desert Research Institute, Nevada System of Higher Education
K. C. Welten: Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California
G. Plunkett: School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology, Queen's University Belfast
F. Ludlow: Yale Climate and Energy Institute, Yale University
U. Büntgen: Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL
M. Caffee: Purdue University
N. Chellman: Desert Research Institute, Nevada System of Higher Education
D. Dahl-Jensen: Centre for Ice and Climate, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen
H. Fischer: Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern
S. Kipfstuhl: Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung
C. Kostick: The University of Nottingham
O. J. Maselli: Desert Research Institute, Nevada System of Higher Education
F. Mekhaldi: Quaternary Sciences, Lund University
R. Mulvaney: British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council
R. Muscheler: Quaternary Sciences, Lund University
D. R. Pasteris: Desert Research Institute, Nevada System of Higher Education
J. R. Pilcher: School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology, Queen's University Belfast
M. Salzer: The Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona
S. Schüpbach: Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern
J. P. Steffensen: Centre for Ice and Climate, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen
B. M. Vinther: Centre for Ice and Climate, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen
T. E. Woodruff: Purdue University

Nature, 2015, vol. 523, issue 7562, 543-549

Abstract: Abstract Volcanic eruptions contribute to climate variability, but quantifying these contributions has been limited by inconsistencies in the timing of atmospheric volcanic aerosol loading determined from ice cores and subsequent cooling from climate proxies such as tree rings. Here we resolve these inconsistencies and show that large eruptions in the tropics and high latitudes were primary drivers of interannual-to-decadal temperature variability in the Northern Hemisphere during the past 2,500 years. Our results are based on new records of atmospheric aerosol loading developed from high-resolution, multi-parameter measurements from an array of Greenland and Antarctic ice cores as well as distinctive age markers to constrain chronologies. Overall, cooling was proportional to the magnitude of volcanic forcing and persisted for up to ten years after some of the largest eruptive episodes. Our revised timescale more firmly implicates volcanic eruptions as catalysts in the major sixth-century pandemics, famines, and socioeconomic disruptions in Eurasia and Mesoamerica while allowing multi-millennium quantification of climate response to volcanic forcing.

Date: 2015
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DOI: 10.1038/nature14565

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