Volcanoes Helped Counteract Increasing Temperatures
By: Meteorologist Steve Newton
Updated: March 1, 2013
At the end of the last decade it was announced the Earth did not warm as much as expected. Researchers at the University of Colorado - Boulder led a study that concluded the cause was dozens of volcanic eruptions.
According to the study, the increase in stratospheric aerosols (including sulfur dioxide) since 2000 may have countered as much as a quarter of the warming that is blamed on human greenhouse emissions.
This study counters a 2009 study that placed the reason on rising emissions of sulfur dioxide on China and India. It also supports a 2011 study showing those aerosols did offset greenhouse warming of the Earth by about 25% over the previous decade.
This recent paper was published in Geophysical Research Letters.
According to the study, the increase in stratospheric aerosols (including sulfur dioxide) since 2000 may have countered as much as a quarter of the warming that is blamed on human greenhouse emissions.
This study counters a 2009 study that placed the reason on rising emissions of sulfur dioxide on China and India. It also supports a 2011 study showing those aerosols did offset greenhouse warming of the Earth by about 25% over the previous decade.
This recent paper was published in Geophysical Research Letters.
