Volcanic winter
Encyclopedia
A volcanic winter is the reduction in temperature caused by volcanic ash
and droplets of sulfuric acid
obscuring the sun
and raising Earth's albedo
(increasing the Earth's reflectivity of solar radiation) after a large particularly explosive type of volcanic eruption
. Long-term cooling effects are primarily dependent upon injection of sulfide
compounds in aerosol
forms into the upper atmosphere—the stratosphere
—the highest, least active levels of the lower atmosphere where little precipitation occurs, requiring a lengthy time to wash the aerosols out of the region. Stratospheric aerosols cool the surface and troposphere by reflecting solar radiation, warm the stratosphere by absorbing terrestrial radiation, and when combined with anthropogenic chlorine in the stratosphere, destroy ozone which moderates the effect of lower stratospheric warming. The variations in atmospheric warming and cooling results in changes in tropospheric and stratospheric circulation.
The effects of recent volcanic eruptions on winters are modest in scale but historically their effects have been significant.
Most recently, the 1991 explosion of Mount Pinatubo
, a stratovolcano in the Philippines
, cooled global temperatures for about 2–3 years.
In 1883, the explosion
of Krakatoa
(Krakatau) created volcanic winter-like conditions. The next four years after the explosion were unusually cold, and the winter of 1887 to 1888 included powerful blizzards. Record snowfalls were recorded worldwide.
The 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora
, a stratovolcano
in Indonesia
, occasioned mid-summer frosts in New York State and June snowfalls in New England
and Newfoundland and Labrador
in what came to be known as the "Year Without a Summer
" of 1816.
A paper written by Benjamin Franklin
in 1783 blamed the unusually cool summer of 1783 on volcanic dust coming from Iceland
, where the eruption of Laki volcano had released enormous amounts of sulfur dioxide
, resulting in the death of much of the island's livestock
and a catastrophic famine
which killed a quarter of the population. Temperatures in the northern hemisphere
dropped by about 1 °C in the year following the Laki eruption.
In 1600, the Huaynaputina
in Peru
erupted. Tree ring studies
show that 1601 was cold. Russia
had its worst famine in 1601 to 1603. From 1600 to 1602, Switzerland
, Latvia
and Estonia
had exceptionally cold winters. The wine harvest was late in 1601 in France
, and in Peru and Germany
wine production collapsed. Peach trees bloomed late in China
, and Lake Suwa
in Japan
froze early.
In 1452 or 1453, a cataclysmic eruption of the submarine volcano
Kuwae
caused worldwide disruptions.
The Great Famine of 1315–1317
in Europe may have been precipitated by a volcanic event, perhaps that of Kaharoa
, New Zealand, which lasted about five years.
The extreme weather events of 535–536 are most likely linked to a volcanic eruption.
One proposed volcanic winter happened around 71,000–73,000 years ago following the supereruption
of Lake Toba
on Sumatra
island in Indonesia
. In the following 6 years there was the highest amount of volcanic sulphur
deposited in the last 110,000 years, possibly causing significant deforestation
in Southeast Asia
and the cooling of global temperature
s by 1 °C. Some scientists hypothesize the eruption caused an immediate return to a glacial
climate regime by accelerating an ongoing continental glaciation, thereby causing massive population reduction among animals and human beings on Earth
. Others argue that the climatic effects of the eruption were too weak and brief to impact early human populations to the degree proposed.
This, combined with the fact that most human differentiations abruptly occurred at that same period, is a probable case of bottleneck
linked to volcanic winters (see Toba catastrophe theory
). On average, super-eruptions with total eruptive masses of at least 1015 kg (Toba eruptive mass = 6.9 × 1015 kg) occur every 1 million years.
The causes of the bottleneck
phenomenon, i.e., a sharp decrease in a species
' population immediately followed by a period of great genetic divergence (differentiation
) among survivors—is attributed to volcanic winters by some researchers. According to anthropologist
Stanley Ambrose, such events diminish the population size to "levels low enough for evolutionary changes, which occur much faster in small populations, to produce rapid population differentiation". In the Toba bottleneck, many species show massive effects of narrowing of the gene pool, and it is believed Toba nearly caused humankind to become extinct.
Volcanic ash
Volcanic ash consists of small tephra, which are bits of pulverized rock and glass created by volcanic eruptions, less than in diameter. There are three mechanisms of volcanic ash formation: gas release under decompression causing magmatic eruptions; thermal contraction from chilling on contact...
and droplets of sulfuric acid
Sulfuric acid
Sulfuric acid is a strong mineral acid with the molecular formula . Its historical name is oil of vitriol. Pure sulfuric acid is a highly corrosive, colorless, viscous liquid. The salts of sulfuric acid are called sulfates...
obscuring the sun
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
and raising Earth's albedo
Albedo
Albedo , or reflection coefficient, is the diffuse reflectivity or reflecting power of a surface. It is defined as the ratio of reflected radiation from the surface to incident radiation upon it...
(increasing the Earth's reflectivity of solar radiation) after a large particularly explosive type of volcanic eruption
Volcano
2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...
. Long-term cooling effects are primarily dependent upon injection of sulfide
Sulfide
A sulfide is an anion of sulfur in its lowest oxidation state of 2-. Sulfide is also a slightly archaic term for thioethers, a common type of organosulfur compound that are well known for their bad odors.- Properties :...
compounds in aerosol
Aerosol
Technically, an aerosol is a suspension of fine solid particles or liquid droplets in a gas. Examples are clouds, and air pollution such as smog and smoke. In general conversation, aerosol usually refers to an aerosol spray can or the output of such a can...
forms into the upper atmosphere—the stratosphere
Stratosphere
The stratosphere is the second major layer of Earth's atmosphere, just above the troposphere, and below the mesosphere. It is stratified in temperature, with warmer layers higher up and cooler layers farther down. This is in contrast to the troposphere near the Earth's surface, which is cooler...
—the highest, least active levels of the lower atmosphere where little precipitation occurs, requiring a lengthy time to wash the aerosols out of the region. Stratospheric aerosols cool the surface and troposphere by reflecting solar radiation, warm the stratosphere by absorbing terrestrial radiation, and when combined with anthropogenic chlorine in the stratosphere, destroy ozone which moderates the effect of lower stratospheric warming. The variations in atmospheric warming and cooling results in changes in tropospheric and stratospheric circulation.
Historic cases
Most recently, the 1991 explosion of Mount Pinatubo
Mount Pinatubo
Mount Pinatubo is an active stratovolcano located on the island of Luzon, near the tripoint of the Philippine provinces of Zambales, Tarlac, and Pampanga. It is located in the Tri-Cabusilan Mountain range separating the west coast of Luzon from the central plains, and is west of the dormant and...
, a stratovolcano in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, cooled global temperatures for about 2–3 years.
In 1883, the explosion
Explosion
An explosion is a rapid increase in volume and release of energy in an extreme manner, usually with the generation of high temperatures and the release of gases. An explosion creates a shock wave. If the shock wave is a supersonic detonation, then the source of the blast is called a "high explosive"...
of Krakatoa
Krakatoa
Krakatoa is a volcanic island made of a'a lava in the Sunda Strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra in Indonesia. The name is used for the island group, the main island , and the volcano as a whole. The island exploded in 1883, killing approximately 40,000 people, although some estimates...
(Krakatau) created volcanic winter-like conditions. The next four years after the explosion were unusually cold, and the winter of 1887 to 1888 included powerful blizzards. Record snowfalls were recorded worldwide.
The 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora
Mount Tambora
Mount Tambora is an active stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, on the island of Sumbawa, Indonesia. Sumbawa is flanked both to the north and south by oceanic crust, and Tambora was formed by the active subduction zone beneath it. This raised Mount Tambora as high as , making it...
, a stratovolcano
Stratovolcano
A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a tall, conical volcano built up by many layers of hardened lava, tephra, pumice, and volcanic ash. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile and periodic, explosive eruptions...
in Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, occasioned mid-summer frosts in New York State and June snowfalls in New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
and Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...
in what came to be known as the "Year Without a Summer
Year Without a Summer
The Year Without a Summer was 1816, in which severe summer climate abnormalities caused average global temperatures to decrease by about 0.4–0.7 °C , resulting in major food shortages across the Northern Hemisphere...
" of 1816.
A paper written by Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...
in 1783 blamed the unusually cool summer of 1783 on volcanic dust coming from Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
, where the eruption of Laki volcano had released enormous amounts of sulfur dioxide
Sulfur dioxide
Sulfur dioxide is the chemical compound with the formula . It is released by volcanoes and in various industrial processes. Since coal and petroleum often contain sulfur compounds, their combustion generates sulfur dioxide unless the sulfur compounds are removed before burning the fuel...
, resulting in the death of much of the island's livestock
Livestock
Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...
and a catastrophic famine
Famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including crop failure, overpopulation, or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompanied or followed by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality. Every continent in the world has...
which killed a quarter of the population. Temperatures in the northern hemisphere
Northern Hemisphere
The Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is north of its equator—the word hemisphere literally means “half sphere”. It is also that half of the celestial sphere north of the celestial equator...
dropped by about 1 °C in the year following the Laki eruption.
In 1600, the Huaynaputina
Huaynaputina
Huaynaputina is a stratovolcano located in a volcanic upland in southern Peru. The volcano does not have an identifiable mountain profile, but instead has the form of a large volcanic crater. It has produced high-potassium andesite and dacite...
in Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
erupted. Tree ring studies
Dendrochronology
Dendrochronology or tree-ring dating is the scientific method of dating based on the analysis of patterns of tree-rings. Dendrochronology can date the time at which tree rings were formed, in many types of wood, to the exact calendar year...
show that 1601 was cold. Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
had its worst famine in 1601 to 1603. From 1600 to 1602, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
and Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
had exceptionally cold winters. The wine harvest was late in 1601 in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, and in Peru and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
wine production collapsed. Peach trees bloomed late in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, and Lake Suwa
Lake Suwa
is a lake in the central part of Nagano Prefecture, Japan. It ranks 24th in Japan in surface area.Lake Suwa is the site of , an interesting natural phenomenon. The lake has a natural hot spring under the surface, so that when the top freezes in the winter, the lower waters are still warm and...
in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
froze early.
In 1452 or 1453, a cataclysmic eruption of the submarine volcano
Submarine volcano
Submarine volcanoes are underwater fissures in the Earth's surface from which magma can erupt. They are estimated to account for 75% of annual magma output. The vast majority are located near areas of tectonic plate movement, known as ocean ridges...
Kuwae
Kuwae
Kuwae is a submarine caldera between Epi and Tongoa islands. Kuwae Caldera cuts through the flank of the Tavani Ruru volcano on Epi and the northwest end of Tongoa....
caused worldwide disruptions.
The Great Famine of 1315–1317
Great Famine of 1315–1317
The Great Famine of 1315–1317 was the first of a series of large scale crises that struck Northern Europe early in the fourteenth century...
in Europe may have been precipitated by a volcanic event, perhaps that of Kaharoa
Kaharoa
Kaharoa is a rural area of New Zealand approximately 20km from Rotorua and 45km from Tauranga on the North Island. At its highest point the area is approx. 500m above sea level, with some areas able to see towards the coastline of the eastern Bay of Plenty....
, New Zealand, which lasted about five years.
The extreme weather events of 535–536 are most likely linked to a volcanic eruption.
One proposed volcanic winter happened around 71,000–73,000 years ago following the supereruption
Supervolcano
A supervolcano is a volcano capable of producing a volcanic eruption with an ejecta volume greater than 1,000 cubic kilometers . This is thousands of times larger than most historic volcanic eruptions. Supervolcanoes can occur when magma in the Earth rises into the crust from a hotspot but is...
of Lake Toba
Lake Toba
Lake Toba is a lake and supervolcano. The lake is 100 kilometres long and 30 kilometres wide, and 505 metres at its deepest point. Located in the middle of the northern part of the Indonesian island of Sumatra with a surface elevation of about , the lake stretches from to...
on Sumatra
Sumatra
Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...
island in Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
. In the following 6 years there was the highest amount of volcanic sulphur
Sulfur
Sulfur or sulphur is the chemical element with atomic number 16. In the periodic table it is represented by the symbol S. It is an abundant, multivalent non-metal. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with chemical formula S8. Elemental sulfur is a bright yellow...
deposited in the last 110,000 years, possibly causing significant deforestation
Deforestation
Deforestation is the removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a nonforest use. Examples of deforestation include conversion of forestland to farms, ranches, or urban use....
in Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
and the cooling of global temperature
Temperature
Temperature is a physical property of matter that quantitatively expresses the common notions of hot and cold. Objects of low temperature are cold, while various degrees of higher temperatures are referred to as warm or hot...
s by 1 °C. Some scientists hypothesize the eruption caused an immediate return to a glacial
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
climate regime by accelerating an ongoing continental glaciation, thereby causing massive population reduction among animals and human beings on Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
. Others argue that the climatic effects of the eruption were too weak and brief to impact early human populations to the degree proposed.
This, combined with the fact that most human differentiations abruptly occurred at that same period, is a probable case of bottleneck
Population bottleneck
A population bottleneck is an evolutionary event in which a significant percentage of a population or species is killed or otherwise prevented from reproducing....
linked to volcanic winters (see Toba catastrophe theory
Toba catastrophe theory
The Toba supereruption was a supervolcanic eruption that occurred some time between 69,000 and 77,000 years ago at Lake Toba . It is recognized as one of the Earth's largest known eruptions...
). On average, super-eruptions with total eruptive masses of at least 1015 kg (Toba eruptive mass = 6.9 × 1015 kg) occur every 1 million years.
Effects on life
Population bottleneck
A population bottleneck is an evolutionary event in which a significant percentage of a population or species is killed or otherwise prevented from reproducing....
phenomenon, i.e., a sharp decrease in a species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
' population immediately followed by a period of great genetic divergence (differentiation
Genetic divergence
Genetic divergence is the process in which two or more populations of an ancestral species accumulate independent genetic changes through time, often after the populations have become reproductively isolated for some period of time...
) among survivors—is attributed to volcanic winters by some researchers. According to anthropologist
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
Stanley Ambrose, such events diminish the population size to "levels low enough for evolutionary changes, which occur much faster in small populations, to produce rapid population differentiation". In the Toba bottleneck, many species show massive effects of narrowing of the gene pool, and it is believed Toba nearly caused humankind to become extinct.
See also
- Extreme weather events of 535–536
- Impact winterImpact winterAn impact winter is a period of prolonged cold weather caused by the impact on the Earth of a large asteroid or comet. If such an impact occurred on land or the floor of a shallow sea, it could cause large amounts of dust or ash to be thrown into the Earth's atmosphere, blocking the Sun's light...
- Nuclear winterNuclear winterNuclear winter is a predicted climatic effect of nuclear war. It has been theorized that severely cold weather and reduced sunlight for a period of months or even years could be caused by detonating large numbers of nuclear weapons, especially over flammable targets such as cities, where large...
- Year Without a SummerYear Without a SummerThe Year Without a Summer was 1816, in which severe summer climate abnormalities caused average global temperatures to decrease by about 0.4–0.7 °C , resulting in major food shortages across the Northern Hemisphere...
- Timetable of major worldwide volcanic eruptionsTimetable of major worldwide volcanic eruptionsThis article is a list of volcanic eruptions of approximately at least magnitude 6 on the Volcanic Explosivity Index or equivalent sulfur dioxide emission around the Quaternary period. Some cooled the global climate; the extent of this effect depends on the amount of sulfur dioxide emitted...