British researchers warned Thursday that global warming will exacerbate the consequences of large-scale volcanic eruptions, amplifying temporary cooling after this type of event.
“Massive volcanic eruptions will have greater impacts as the climate continues to warm,” researchers from the University of Cambridge and the UK Met Office (Met Office) said in a statement.
According to their study, which will be published in the journal Nature Connections, plumes of ash and gas from major volcanic eruptions will rise higher and higher in the atmosphere, and volcanic material associated with eruptions will spread more rapidly around the world.
The combined effect of these two phenomena will prevent sunlight from reaching the Earth’s surface, which will “amplify the temporary cooling effects” that occur after an eruption, with an increase of about 15%.
For example, the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines in 1991 and its plume – the second largest volcano XXNS Century – shook the entire planet, causing global temperatures to drop by 0.5°C in 1992.
On the other hand, for the small eruptions that occur each year, a strong global warming would reduce 75% of the temporary cooling effects.
According to the researchers, melting ice caps should “increase the frequency and magnitude of volcanic eruptions in places like Iceland”.
“Climate change is not an upcoming phenomenon, it is already here, as the IPCC report published this week makes clear,” warned researcher Anya Schmidt, co-author of the study.
This report by United Nations climate experts, released Monday, says global warming is happening much faster than expected, and that humans, who are “undoubtedly responsible”, have no choice but to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, if they They want to limit the damage.
He also considered it “likely” that at least one major volcanic eruption would occur in the twenty-first centuryNS Century, claiming that it “would lower temperatures for one to three years, especially on Earth, and alter heavy rainfall.”