New research indicates that small volcanic eruptions have contributed to the slowdown of global warming over the past 15 years, according to a study accepted for publication in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
It has long been known that volcanic eruptions eject sulphur dioxide, an atmosphere-cooling gas. But previous research had indicated that small eruptions did not make a significant contribution to the slowdown of global warming, so scientists only took into account large-scale eruptions, such as the 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption in the Philippines, when evaluating the impact of volcanic eruptions on global temperatures.
The new research shows that “small volcanic eruptions that occurred between 2000 and 2013 have deflected almost double the amount of solar radiation previously estimated,” according to the study.
During volcanic eruptions, sulphur dioxide is ejected into the upper atmosphere. When it interacts with oxygen, it can form droplets of sulphuric acid that linger in the upper atmosphere for months. The sulphuric acid, which deflect solar rays, is stored at the intersection between the troposphere and stratosphere, which is around 10 to 15 kilometres above Earth.
The past 15 years have seen significantly more small eruptions than the previous two decades, but this is expected to be just a “brief intermission,” the study’s author, David A. Ridley, told NBC News.
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