The 1991 Mt. Pinatubo Eruption Provides a Natural Test for the Influence of Arctic Circulation on Climate

A recent NASA-funded study has linked the 1991 eruption of the Mount Pinatubo to a strengthening of a climate pattern called the Arctic Oscillation. For two years following the volcanic eruption, the Arctic Oscillation caused winter warming over land areas in the high and middle latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, despite a cooling effect from volcanic particles that blocked sunlight.

One mission of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise, which funded this research, is to better understand how the Earth system responds to human and naturally-induced changes, such as large volcanic eruptions.

"This study clarifies the effect of strong volcanic eruptions on climate, important by itself, and helps to better predict possible weather and short-term climate variations after strong volcanic eruptions," said Georgiy Stenchikov, a researcher at Rutgers University's Department of Environmental Sciences, New Brunswick, N.J., and lead author on a paper that appeared in a recent issue of the Journal of Geophysical Research.

For the complete article, visit: http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/2003/0306aopin.html