Impacts of major volcanic eruptions over the past two millennia on both global and Chinese climates: A review

• Major volcanic eruptions (MVEs) have attracted increasing attention from the scientific community. Previous studies have explored the climatic impact of MVEs over the past two millennia. However, proxy-based reconstructions and climate model simulations indicate divergent responses of global and China’s regional climates to MVEs. Here, we used multiple data from observations, reconstructions, simulations, and assimilations to summarize the historical facts of MVEs, the characteristics and mechanisms of their climatic impact, and directions for future research. We reviewed volcanic datasets and determined intensive MVE periods; these periods corresponded to the years 530–700, 1200–1460, and 1600–1840 CE. After tropical MVEs, a substantial cooling effect is observed throughout the globe and China on the interannual-interdecadal time scales but an inconsistent cooling magnitude is detected between reconstructions and simulations. In the first summer after tropical MVEs, a decrease in global and monsoonal precipitation is observed. In reconstructions and simulations, an increased precipitation is seen for the Yangtze River Basin, while large uncertainties in precipitation changes are present for other regions of China. Decadal drought can be induced by frequent eruptions and volcanism superimposed on low solar irradiation and internal variability. MVEs affect climate directly through the radiative effect and indirectly by modulating internal variability, such as the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO). However, changes in the phase, amplitude, and periodicity of ENSO and AMO after MVEs and the associated mechanisms remain controversial, which could account for model-reconstruction disagreements. Moreover, other internal variability, uncertainties in reconstruction methods and aerosol-climate models, and climate background may also induce model-reconstruction disagreements. Knowledge gaps and directions for future research are also discussed.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap -- Klimatforskning (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences -- Climate Research (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Climate variability

Internal variability

Major volcanic eruption

Mechanism

Past two millennia

Publication and Content Type

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