Abstract
Abstract. Volcanic eruptions have a significant impact on global temperature; their consequences are of particular interest in regions that are especially sensitive to climate change, like the Tibetan Plateau. In this study, we develop a temperature-sensitive tree-ring-width standard chronology covering the period 1348–2014 CE using Qilian juniper (Sabina przewalskii (Kom.)) samples collected from the Animaqin Mountains on the Tibetan Plateau. We reconstruct the annual (prior August to current July) mean minimum temperature (Tmin) since 1380 CE and show that our reconstruction explains 58 % of the variance during the 1960–2014 calibration period. Our results demonstrate that in 77.8 % of cases in which a volcanic eruption with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 5 or greater occurs, temperature decreases in the year of or the year following the eruption. The results of the superposed epoch analysis also indicate that there is a high probability that the Tmin decreases for 2 years after a large volcanic eruption, especially when such eruptions occur in the Northern Hemisphere.
Highlights
Large volcanic eruptions can affect the climate of the Earth (Robock, 2000) and have played a major role in past global temperature changes (Salzer and Hughes, 2007)
According to instrumental data from the GL weather station (Table 1), the elevation of which is close to that of the sampling site, the annual Tmean and Tmin are 2.25 and −6.76◦, respectively. These temperatures are quite low for tree growth, and the statistically significant positive correlation between growth and temperature shows that tree radial growth in this area is restricted by temperature, especially Tmin
We compared the years of cooling we identified in this study with those identified by Zhang et al (2014) and found that the cooling years are either the same or within a year of each other
Summary
Large volcanic eruptions can affect the climate of the Earth (Robock, 2000) and have played a major role in past global temperature changes (Salzer and Hughes, 2007). Eruptions emit large amounts of ash particles and gases into the atmosphere, much of which is carried to other regions by atmospheric movement. These materials efficiently reflect incident solar radiation, resulting in the cooling of the Earth’s surface. Volcanic eruptions of similar magnitudes do not necessarily result in cooling across all areas of the world. The 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo, Philippines, caused summer cooling over much of the globe in 1992, but the temperature in some areas was above average (Robock and Mao, 1992). It is not necessarily clear to what extent or in what manner a strong volcanic eruption will influence temperature in a particular region
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