Volcanic Climate Warming Through Radiative and Dynamical Feedbacks of SO2 Emissions

[Andrew Lockley]

Poster's note: old(ish) but new to me, and I assume to the list. Comments are particularly welcome. Obviously this would be a big deal if true. 

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2021GL096612

Volcanic Climate Warming Through Radiative and Dynamical Feedbacks of SO2 Emissions

Scott D. Guzewich,Luke D. Oman,Jacob A. Richardson,Patrick L. Whelley,Sandra T. Bastelberger,Kelsey E. Young,Jacob E. Bleacher,Thomas J. Fauchez,Ravi K. Kopparapu

First published: 01 February 2022

https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL096612

Citations: 1

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Abstract

Volcanic flood basalt eruptions have been linked to or are contemporaneous with major climate disruptions, ocean anoxic events, and mass extinctions throughout at least the last 400 M years of Earth's history. Previous studies and recent history have shown that volcanically-driven climate cooling can occur through reflection of sunlight by H2SO4 aerosols, while longer-term climate warming can occur via CO2 emissions. We use the Goddard Earth Observing System Chemistry-Climate Model to simulate a 4-year duration volcanic SO2 emission of the scale of the Wapshilla Ridge member of the Columbia River Basalt eruption. Brief cooling from H2SO4 aerosols is outweighed by dynamically and radiatively driven warming of the climate through a three orders of magnitude increase in stratospheric H2O vapor.

Key Points

Volcanic emission of SO2 produces warming through climate feedbacks

The warming is driven by a three orders of magnitude increase in stratospheric H2O vapor

Climate cooling by H2SO4 aerosols persists for less time than the eruption itself

[Daniele Visioni]

Scale and location matter: by actually reading the paper, most of the SO₂ is injected well below the stratosphere (20% in the PBL, 20% between 13 and 17km) to simulate a kind of flood basalt eruptions that happened over 15 Ma years ago, continuous over an amount of years. This leads to a warming in the UT and lowermost S of over 50 K, which completely removes the tropical stratosphere. GEOSCCM (the model used here) has been used for Pinatubo-like simulations and other simulations that inject in the stratosphere, with results consistent with available measurements. Needless to say, the tropopause didn’t disappear with Pinatubo nor with any present-day eruptions.

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