Volcanic winter
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| + | A '''volcanic winter''' is a reduction in global temperatures caused by [[volcanic ash]] and droplets of [[sulfuric acid]] obscuring the [[Sun]] and raising Earth's [[albedo]] (increasing the reflection of solar radiation) after a large particularly explosive [[volcano|volcanic eruption]]. Long-term cooling effects are primarily dependent upon injection of [[sulfide]] compounds in [[aerosol]] form into the upper atmosphere—the [[stratosphere]]—the highest, least active levels of the lower atmosphere where little precipitation occurs, thus requiring a long time to wash the aerosols out of the region. Stratospheric aerosols cool the surface and troposphere by reflecting solar radiation, warm the stratosphere by absorbing terrestrial radiation, and when combined with anthropogenic chlorine in the stratosphere, destroy ozone which moderates the effect of lower stratospheric warming. The variations in atmospheric warming and cooling results in changes in tropospheric and stratospheric circulation. | ||
| - | '''Mount Tambora''' (or '''Tamboro''') is an active [[stratovolcano]] which is a peninsula of the island of [[Sumbawa]], Indonesia. Sumbawa is flanked both to the north and south by [[oceanic crust]], and Tambora was formed by the active [[subduction zone]] beneath it. This raised Mount Tambora as high as {{convert|4300|m|abbr=on}}, making it, in the 18th century, one of the tallest peaks in the Indonesian archipelago. After a large [[magma chamber]] inside the mountain filled over the course of several decades, volcanic activity reached a historic climax in the eruption of 10 April 1815. This eruption was about a [[volcanic explosivity index]] (VEI) of 7, the only eruption unambiguously confirmed of that size since the [[Hatepe eruption|Lake Taupo]] eruption in about 180 [[Common Era|CE]]. (The [[Heaven Lake]] eruption of [[Baekdu Mountain]] around 969 CE may have also been VEI-7.) | + | ==See also== |
| - | + | * [[Impact winter]] | |
| - | With an estimated ejecta volume of 160 km3, Tambora's 1815 outburst was the largest volcanic eruption in recorded history. The explosion was heard on [[Sumatra]] island more than 2000 km away. Heavy [[volcanic ash]] falls were observed as far away as [[Borneo]], [[Sulawesi]], [[Java]], and [[Maluku Islands]]. Most deaths from the eruption were from starvation and disease, as the eruptive fallout ruined agricultural productivity in the local region. The death toll was at least 71,000 people, of whom 11,000–12,000 were killed directly by the eruption; the often-cited figure of 92,000 people killed is believed to be overestimated. | + | * [[Nuclear winter]] |
| - | + | * [[Year Without a Summer]] | |
| - | The eruption caused global climate anomalies that included the phenomenon known as "[[volcanic winter]]": 1816 became known as the "[[Year Without a Summer]]" because of the effect on North American and European weather. Crops failed and livestock died in much of the [[Northern Hemisphere]], resulting in the worst [[famine]] of the 19th century. | + | * [[Timetable of major worldwide volcanic eruptions]] |
| - | + | * [[Global dimming]] | |
| - | During an [[Excavation (archaeology)|excavation]] in 2004, a team of [[archaeology|archaeologists]] discovered [[Tambora culture|cultural remains]] buried by the 1815 eruption. They were kept intact beneath the 3-m-deep pyroclastic deposits. At the site, dubbed the '[[Pompeii]] of the East', the artifacts were preserved in the positions they had occupied in 1815. | + | |
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A volcanic winter is a reduction in global temperatures caused by volcanic ash and droplets of sulfuric acid obscuring the Sun and raising Earth's albedo (increasing the reflection of solar radiation) after a large particularly explosive volcanic eruption. Long-term cooling effects are primarily dependent upon injection of sulfide compounds in aerosol form into the upper atmosphere—the stratosphere—the highest, least active levels of the lower atmosphere where little precipitation occurs, thus requiring a long time to wash the aerosols out of the region. Stratospheric aerosols cool the surface and troposphere by reflecting solar radiation, warm the stratosphere by absorbing terrestrial radiation, and when combined with anthropogenic chlorine in the stratosphere, destroy ozone which moderates the effect of lower stratospheric warming. The variations in atmospheric warming and cooling results in changes in tropospheric and stratospheric circulation.
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See also
- Impact winter
- Nuclear winter
- Year Without a Summer
- Timetable of major worldwide volcanic eruptions
- Global dimming
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