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Major Differences in Regional Climate Impact Between High- and Low-Latitude Volcanic Eruptions

Sjolte, Jesper LU orcid ; Adolphi, Florian LU ; Guðlaugsdòttir, Hera and Muscheler, Raimund LU orcid (2021) In Geophysical Research Letters 48(8).
Abstract

Major low-latitude volcanic eruptions cool Earth’s climate, and can lead to a positive phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) during winter. However, the question of the climate and circulation impact of Northern Hemisphere high-latitude eruptions has received less attention. Here we show that, contrary to low-latitude eruptions, the response to high-latitude eruptions can be associated with negative NAO both winter and summer. We furthermore demonstrate that also the response to low-latitude eruptions prevails during summer months, and corroborates previous findings of an extended impact on winter circulation lasting up to 5 years. Our analysis of novel climate field reconstructions supports this extended response, with the... (More)

Major low-latitude volcanic eruptions cool Earth’s climate, and can lead to a positive phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) during winter. However, the question of the climate and circulation impact of Northern Hemisphere high-latitude eruptions has received less attention. Here we show that, contrary to low-latitude eruptions, the response to high-latitude eruptions can be associated with negative NAO both winter and summer. We furthermore demonstrate that also the response to low-latitude eruptions prevails during summer months, and corroborates previous findings of an extended impact on winter circulation lasting up to 5 years. Our analysis of novel climate field reconstructions supports this extended response, with the addition of showing a positive NAO during summer after low-latitude eruptions. The differences in the effect of high- and low-latitude eruptions on atmospheric circulation and regional temperature provide important insights for the understanding of past and future climate changes in response to volcanic forcing.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
North Atlantic Oscillation, regional climate, seasonal climate reconstructions, volcanic eruptions
in
Geophysical Research Letters
volume
48
issue
8
article number
e2020GL092017
publisher
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
external identifiers
  • scopus:85105019322
ISSN
0094-8276
DOI
10.1029/2020GL092017
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Funding Information: This work was supported by the Swedish Research Council (grant DNR2011‐5418 & DNR2013‐8421 to R. Muscheler), the Crafoord Foundation and the strategic research program of ModEling the Regional and Global Earth system (MERGE) hosted by the Faculty of Science at Lund University. F. Adolphi was supported by the Swedish Research Council (grant DNR 2016‐00218 to F. Adolphi). Publisher Copyright: © 2021. The Authors. Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
id
c8d5e901-2349-4e19-b865-e05fcc46cf8e
date added to LUP
2021-05-10 12:07:33
date last changed
2022-04-27 01:51:57
@article{c8d5e901-2349-4e19-b865-e05fcc46cf8e,
  abstract     = {{<p>Major low-latitude volcanic eruptions cool Earth’s climate, and can lead to a positive phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) during winter. However, the question of the climate and circulation impact of Northern Hemisphere high-latitude eruptions has received less attention. Here we show that, contrary to low-latitude eruptions, the response to high-latitude eruptions can be associated with negative NAO both winter and summer. We furthermore demonstrate that also the response to low-latitude eruptions prevails during summer months, and corroborates previous findings of an extended impact on winter circulation lasting up to 5 years. Our analysis of novel climate field reconstructions supports this extended response, with the addition of showing a positive NAO during summer after low-latitude eruptions. The differences in the effect of high- and low-latitude eruptions on atmospheric circulation and regional temperature provide important insights for the understanding of past and future climate changes in response to volcanic forcing.</p>}},
  author       = {{Sjolte, Jesper and Adolphi, Florian and Guðlaugsdòttir, Hera and Muscheler, Raimund}},
  issn         = {{0094-8276}},
  keywords     = {{North Atlantic Oscillation; regional climate; seasonal climate reconstructions; volcanic eruptions}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{8}},
  publisher    = {{American Geophysical Union (AGU)}},
  series       = {{Geophysical Research Letters}},
  title        = {{Major Differences in Regional Climate Impact Between High- and Low-Latitude Volcanic Eruptions}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2020GL092017}},
  doi          = {{10.1029/2020GL092017}},
  volume       = {{48}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}