The Volcanic Signal in Global Climate

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Several related research tasks are undertaken to improve knowledge of the effects of volcanic eruptions on climate. These effects are important to understand in their own right, and are also crucial in estimating the amount of past climate change that was due to greenhouse gases in order to predict the future impact of these gases. The PI will analyze the past climatic and volcanic record in order to detect the effects of past volcanic eruptions. This will involve the creation of an improved volcanic index appropriate for climatic impact. The surface temperature changes of the past 140 years will be analyzed to determine the seasonal and latitudinal signal of volcanic eruptions. In addition, the output from a recent general circulation model (GCM) experiment will be analyzed to determine the impact of the simulated volcanic eruptions. An aerosol data set for the 1980's will be created for future use in GCM simulations to investigate the relative effects of ENSO and the EL Chichon eruption of 1982 for the climate change of the 1980's.