Skip to main content
Log in

Analysis of early instrumental air temperature observations before and after the Tambora volcano eruption

  • Discussion
  • Published:
Russian Meteorology and Hydrology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The study analyzes the recently summarized data on surface air temperature in the east of North America, in Western and Eastern Europe, and in India before and after the Tambora volcano eruption occurred in Indonesia in 1815. The well-known fact is proved that no cooling occurred after the Tambora eruption in the east of Europe and in India. It is found that the insignificant (at the decadal timescale) cooling was observed in all analyzed regions: it started earlier than the Tambora eruption and than the stronger eruption of another volcano in 1809. The paper demonstrates that it is impossible to reveal cause-effect relations between the general cooling and the eruption of the above volcanoes based on the available data on surface air temperature. Cold snaps that follow the later volcanic eruptions were identified by meteorologists using the data of the whole network of meteorological observations established in the second half of the 19th century. However, these cold snaps cannot be detected using data on surface air temperature only.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. A. A. Abdurakhmanov, P. P. Firstov, and V. A. Shirokov, “A Possible Ret ation of Volcanic Eruptions to the 11-year Cycles of Sotar Activity,” Byulleten’ Vulkanicheskikh Stantsii, No. 52 (1976) [in Russian].

    Google Scholar 

  2. P. Ya. Groisman, “Regional Climate Consequences of Volcanic Eruptions,” Meteorol. Gidrol., No. 4 (1985) [Sov. Meteorol. Hydrol., No. 4 (1985)].

    Google Scholar 

  3. K. Ya. Kondrat’ev, “From Nano- to Global Scales: Properties, Processes of Formation, and Aftereffects of Atmospheric Aerosol Impacts. 7. Aerosol Radiative Forcing and Climate,” Optika Atmosfery i Okeana, No. 7, 18 (2005) [in Russian].

    Google Scholar 

  4. P. N. Kropotkin, “A Possible Role of Space Factors in Geotectonics,” Geotektonika, No. 2 (1970) [in Russian].

    Google Scholar 

  5. V. P. Meleshko, A. V. Meshcherskaya, and E. I. Khlebnikova, Climate of Saint Petersburg and Its Change (GGO, St. Petersburg, 2010) [in Russian].

    Google Scholar 

  6. R. I. Nigmatulin, N. V. Vakulenko, and D. M. Sonechkin, “Global Warming in Reality and in Climate Models,” in Turbulence, Dynamics of Atmosphere and Climate, Ed. by G. S. Golitsyn, I. I. Mokhov, S. N. Kulichkov, et al. (GEOS, Moscow, 2014) [in Russian].

    Google Scholar 

  7. J. G. Anet, S. Muthers, E. V. Rozanov, et al., “Impact of Sotar versus Volcanic Actmty Variations on Troposphere Temperatures and Precipitation during the Dalton Minimum,” Climate of the Past, 10 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  8. G. Brugnara, R. Auchmann, S. Broenniman, et al., “A Collection of Sub-daily Pressure and Temperature Observations for the Early Instrumental Period with a Focus on the “Year without a Summer” 1816,” Climate of the Past, 11 (2015).

    Google Scholar 

  9. J. Cole-Dai, D. Ferris, A. Lanciki, et al., “Cold Decade (AD 1810-1819) Caused by Tambora (1815) and Another (1809) Stratospheric Volcanic Eruption,” Geophys. Res. Lett., 36 (2009).

    Google Scholar 

  10. N. M. Datsenko, M. V. Shabolova, and D. M. Sonechkin, “Seasonality of Multidecadal and Centennial Variability in European Temperatures: The Wavelet Approach,” J. Geophys. Res., No. D12, 106 (2001).

    Google Scholar 

  11. A. T. Evan, “Atlantic Hurricane Activity Following Two Major Volcanic Eruptions,” J. Geophys. Res., No. D06101, 112 (2007).

    Google Scholar 

  12. B. Franklin, “Meteorological Imaginations and Conjectures,” Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society Memoirs and Proceedings, 2 (1784).

    Google Scholar 

  13. S. St. George and K. J. Anchukaitis, “On the AD 1815 Tambora Eruption and the Matter of Misplaced Tree Rings,” Past Global Changes Magazine, No. 2, 23 (2015).

    Google Scholar 

  14. J. M. Gregory, T. Andrews, P. Good, et al., “Small Global-mean Cooling due to Volcanic Radiative Forcing,” Climate Dynamics, No. 3 (2016).

    Google Scholar 

  15. A. Guevara-Murua, E. J. Hendy, A. C. Rust, et al., “Consistent Decrease in North Atlantic Tropical Cyclone Frequency Following Major Volcanic Eruptions in the Last Three Centuries,” Geophys. Res. Lett., 42 (2015).

    Google Scholar 

  16. A. Guevara-Murua, C. A. Wiliams, E. J. Hendy, et al., “Observations of a Stratospheric Aerosol Vail from a Tropical Volcanic Eruplion in December 1808: Is This the Unknown —1809 Eruption?”, Climate of the Past, 10 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  17. H. E. Landsberg and J. M. Albert, “The Summer of 1816 and Volcanism,” Weatherwise, 27 (1974).

    Google Scholar 

  18. A. N. LeGrande and K. J. Anchukaitis, “Volcanic Eruptions and Climate,” Past Global Changes Magazine, No. 2, 23 (2015).

    Google Scholar 

  19. J. Luterbacher and C. Pfister, “The Year without a Summer,” Nature Geosci., 8 (2015).

    Google Scholar 

  20. W. I. Milham, “The Year 1816—The Causes of Abnormalities,” Mon. Wea. Rev., No. 12, 52 (1924).

    Google Scholar 

  21. M. R. Rampino, S. Self, and R. B. Stothers, “Volcanic Winters,” Ann. Rev. Earth Planet. Science, 16 (1988).

    Google Scholar 

  22. A. Robock, “Volcanic Eruptions and Climate,” Rev. Geophys., No. 2, 38 (2000).

    Google Scholar 

  23. R. Rohde, R. A. Muller, R. Jacobsen, et al., “A New Estimate of the Average Earth Surface Land Temperature Spanning 1753 to 2011,” Geoinformatics and Geostatistics: An Overview, No. 1, 1 (2013).

    Google Scholar 

  24. R. Rohde, R. A. Muller, R. Jacobsen, et al., “Berkeley Earth Temperature Averaging Process,” Geoinformatics and Geostatistics: An Overview, No. 2, 1 (2013).

    Google Scholar 

  25. B. D. Santer, C. Bonfils, J. F. Painter, et al., “Volcanic Contribution to Decadal Changes in Tropospheric Temperature,” Nature Geosci., 7 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  26. B. D. Santer, S. Solomon, C. Bonfils, et al., “Observed Multivariable Signals of Late 20th and Early 21st Century Volcanic Activity,” Geophys. Res. Lett., 41 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  27. M. Stoffel, M. Khodri, C. Corona, et al., “Estimates of Volcanic-induced Cooling in the Northern Hemisphere over the Past 1500 Years,” Nature Geosci., 8 (2015).

    Google Scholar 

  28. R. B. Stothers, “The Great Tambora Eruption in 1815 and Its Aftermath,” Science, 224 (1984).

    Google Scholar 

  29. G. Sugihara, R. May, H. Ye, et al., “Detecting Causality in Complex Ecosystems,” Science, 338 (2012).

    Google Scholar 

  30. D. Zanchettin, C. Timmreck, M. Khodri, et al., “A Coordinated Modeling Assessment of the Climate Response to Volcanic Forcing,” Past Global Changes Magazine, No. 2, 23 (2015).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to D. M. Sonechkin.

Additional information

Original Russian Text © N.V. Vakulenko, D.M. Sonechkin, 2017, published in Meteorologiya i Gidrologiya, 2017, No. 10, pp. 100-110.

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Vakulenko, N.V., Sonechkin, D.M. Analysis of early instrumental air temperature observations before and after the Tambora volcano eruption. Russ. Meteorol. Hydrol. 42, 677–684 (2017). https://doi.org/10.3103/S1068373917100089

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.3103/S1068373917100089

Keywords

Navigation