Volcanic eruption froze Earth ‘only’ for decades
JUL 08, 2009
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.023489
ScienceNOW : One fine day about 74 000 years ago, a giant volcano on Sumatra blew its top. The volcano, named Toba, may have ejected 1000 times more rock and other material than Mount St. Helens in Washington State did in 1980. In the process, it cooled the climate by at least 10 °C, causing a global famine.But could the aftermath have been even worse? A new study in the Journal of Geophysical Research—Atmospheres puts to rest questions about whether Toba plunged Earth into a 1000-year deep freeze. Their simulations indicate that the temperature drop would last only a few decades and put to rest the claim that volcanic eruptions could have a long-term impact on the climate.
© 2009 American Institute of Physics
