January 2022: Explosive Hunga-Tonga volcano will not affect climate
Scientists have long known that large volcanic eruptions can have an immediate and years-long impact on the global climate, and an entire field of study has evolved to better understand the mechanisms. Early data from this weekend’s eruption, however, has indicated it was much too small to have any meaningful impact on climate change.
Source: Volcanic Eruptions Can Cool The Climate, But Hunga-Tonga Won’t
May 2022: Revised data now puts the Hunga-Tonga volcanic explosion on par with the 1883 Krakatoa eruption.
Tonga eruption on a par with Krakatoa, study says | Daily Mail Online
Krakatoa’s impact on weather:
While the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa was lethal, it had a bigger impact around the world, creating what’s known as a “volcanic winter.” Scientists believe the eruption injected a huge amount of sulfur dioxide gas high into the stratosphere which was then transported around the globe via jet streams. This led to a global increase in sulfuric acid concentration in high-level cirrus clouds which resulted in an increase in cloud reflectivity. Because the sun reflected more light back out to space from the Sun than usual, the entire planet cooled until the atmospheric sulfur precipitated out of the sky over multiple years.
In the year following the eruption, global temperatures dropped and weather patterns altered, bringing about record rains to places like Los Angeles and San Diego, heavy snow to New York City.
From: Famous Krakatoa Volcano Known for Changing Climate Erupts Today (weatherboy.com)
The ash drifted around the globe, causing halo effects around the moon and sun. The ash also acted as a solar radiation filter, lowering global temperatures by as much as 0.5°C (0.9°F) in the year following the eruption. Temperatures did not return to normal until 1888—five years later.
We have analysed a suite of 12 state-of-the-art climate models and show that ocean warming and sea-level rise in the twentieth century were substantially reduced by the colossal eruption in 1883 of the volcano Krakatoa in the Sunda strait, Indonesia. Volcanically induced cooling of the ocean surface penetrated into deeper layers, where it persisted for decades after the event. This remarkable effect on oceanic thermal structure is longer lasting than has previously been suspected and is sufficient to offset a large fraction of ocean warming and sea-level rise caused by anthropogenic influences.
Volcanoes and climate: Krakatoa’s signature persists in the ocean – PubMed (nih.gov)
Will be interesting to learn what climate impacts this had, if any. It will undoubtedly take time to get a clear picture of the eruption and its effect on weather and climate, if any.
