Little Ice Age may have been triggered by volcanic eruptions

Daily Mail : A study by University of Colorado scientists has found that four massive tropical volcanic eruptions between AD 1275 and 1300 may be responsible for the Little Ice Age that cooled Earth for hundreds of years, writes Rob Waugh for the Daily Mail. Gifford Miller and colleagues, whose paper was published in Geophysical Research Letters, used computer climate modeling to simulate the effects on Arctic sea ice of the heightened volcanic activity some 800 years ago. The eruptions emitted high levels of sulfur into the atmosphere. The sulfur reflected the Sun’s rays back into space. That mechanism cooled the atmosphere and allowed Arctic sea ice to expand. The expansion and melting of the sea ice, which continued to cycle long after the volcanoes’ effects had dissipated, led to unusually colder temperatures, particularly in the Northern Hemisphere. The Little Ice Age was most evident in northern Europe, where advancing glaciers destroyed towns, and paintings from as late as the 19th century show people ice skating on the River Thames in London.