Those of you who are Gen X and older, like me, may remember the amazing sunsets of 1992 that were caused by the massive eruption of Mt. Pinatubo. This volcano spewed so much ash into the atmosphere that it scattered sunlight and ever so slightly cooled the planet by a noticeable 0.5˚C on average. Knowing this, many of us have quietly rooted for a massive volcanic eruption in an empty part of the world that might wreck air travel but wouldn’t wreck life and might drop global temperatures to their pre-climate change levels.

Failing that, a lot of mid-sized volcanic eruptions seemed like a nice alternative, but no, while massive eruptions still have the potential to cool our world, our warming planet’s atmospheric layers have expanded, and mid-sized volcanoes just don’t have the power to kick ash into the now-higher tropopause. Instead of ash and aerosols getting suspended in that critical layer and cooling the planet, they will just settle back down.

Who’s with me in rooting for a good supervolcano eruption?

More Information

University of Cambridge press release

“Climate change modulates the stratospheric volcanic sulfate aerosol lifecycle and radiative forcing from tropical eruptions,” Thomas J. Aubry et al., 2021 August 12, Nature Communications