2019/06/14 by Atsushi Obata, Yukimasa Adachi · 1 citation
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Atmospheric Ozone and Climate #Climate variability and models #Geology and Paleoclimatology Research #Extratropical cyclone #Volcano #Northern Hemisphere #Atmospheric sciences #Climatology #Stratosphere #Environmental science #Middle latitudes #Latitude #Tropics #Precipitation #Geology #Meteorology #Geography #Ecology
paper · doi:10.1029/2018jg004696
openalex publication_date 2019/06/14 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
Abstract We used the Meteorological Research Institute Earth System Model to simulate the climate response to massive sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) emission from the volcanic eruptions of Paektusan (China/North Korea) and Eldgjá (Iceland) into the stratosphere in the tenth century Common Era (CE). Assuming 3 times the SO 2 emission of the 1883 Krakatau eruption, as recorded by Greenland ice core sulfate concentrations, simulations of Paektusan and Eldgjá had roughly similar global mean impacts within 2 years of erupting: decreases in surface insolation (−10 W/m 2 , −5%), surface air temperature (−1 °C), land net primary production (NPP; −3 GtC/year, −5%), and soil respiration (−5 GtC/year, −10%). While both simulations had severe impacts on the extratropical Northern Hemisphere, the simulated response to Paektusan is twice as strong as Eldgjá in the tropics (cooling [1 °C], precipitation decrease [10%], and NPP increase [7%]). Simulation‐Eldgjá had almost no impact on the extratropical Southern Hemisphere because of its initial latitude. These regional differences combine so that Simulation‐Paektusan has slightly larger global mean impacts, including an atmospheric CO 2 decrease of ~2 ppm. Tropical NPP primarily increases due to the fact that photosynthesis maximizes at temperatures below the tropical mean temperature and secondarily to the cooling‐induced decrease in respiration, which indicates relatively rich tropical harvests despite large volcanic eruptions. In contrast, the severe cooling (−2.5 °C) and decreased NPP (−20%) in the northern extratropics could mean poor harvests and famines, which can lead to social turmoil such as a rebellion in northeast Japan around the same time as the eruptions.