Small Volcanic Eruptions May be Slowing Global Warming Across Our Planet

Could volcanoes be slowing global warming? That may just be the case. Scientists have found that small volcanic eruptions could be slowing the warming process across our planet.

Scientists have long known that volcanoes can cool the atmosphere with sulfur dioxide gas. Droplets of sulfuric acid that form when the gas combines with oxygen in the upper atmosphere can remain for many months, reflecting sunlight away from Earth and lowering temperatures. However, previous research has suggested that relatively minor eruptions do not contribute to this phenomenon.

Yet this may not be the case. New ground, air and satellite measurements reveal that small volcanic eruptions that occurred between 2000 and 2013 have deflected almost double the amount of solar radiation previously estimated. By knocking incoming solar energy back out into space, sulfuric acid particles from these recent eruptions could be responsible for decreasing global temperatures anywhere from .05 to .12 degrees Celsius since 2000. More specifically, this could explain some inconsistencies that scientists have witnessed in the past.

"The prediction of global temperature from the [latest] models indicated continuing strong warming post-2000, when in reality the rate of warming has slowed," said David Ridley, lead author of the new study, in a news release.

This means that the small eruptions could actually be mitigating this warming effect, slowing it down. The new data could potentially be incorporated into climate models in order to explain some of the inconsistencies that climate scientists have noticed between the models and what's being observed.

The findings are published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.