Unknown (2025) Volcano mega-eruptions lead to parched times

Identification

• Journal: Nature
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-11-13
• Authors: Unknown
• DOI: 10.1038/d41586-025-03662-9

Research Groups

• Columbia University, New York City, USA (led by Dana Raiter)

Short Summary

This study used a climate model to investigate the effects of large volcanic eruptions beyond global cooling, finding that while cooling plateaus with increasing eruption size, the reduction in global rainfall continues to intensify, leading to severe drought.

Objective

• To determine the effects of volcanic eruptions of various sizes on global climate, specifically focusing on impacts beyond temperature changes, such as rainfall.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Global
• Temporal Scale: Post-eruption period (response to volcanic sulfur injection)

Methodology and Data

• Models used: A climate model
• Data sources: Simulations of volcanic eruptions injecting up to 160 million tonnes of sulfur into the stratosphere.

Main Results

• For simulated eruptions injecting up to 40 million tonnes of sulfur, the planet experienced cooling.
• For larger eruptions (exceeding 40 million tonnes of sulfur), the global cooling effect did not become more pronounced; it plateaued.
• In contrast, the decline in global rainfall continued to increase proportionally with the size of the eruptions, even for the largest simulated events.
• The Mount Samalas eruption in 1257, the largest volcanic event of the past 6,000 years, released nearly 60 million tonnes of sulfur.

Contributions

• Reveals that extreme drought, rather than just global cooling, could be a more significant and escalating challenge following mega-volcanic eruptions.
• Demonstrates a differential scaling of climate impacts, where rainfall reduction intensifies with eruption size even when global cooling plateaus.
• Emphasizes the multifaceted and potentially severe societal impacts of large volcanic events beyond temperature changes.

Funding

• Not specified in the provided text.

Citation

@article{Unknown2025Volcano,
  author = {},
  title = {Volcano mega-eruptions lead to parched times},
  journal = {Nature},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.1038/d41586-025-03662-9},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-03662-9}
}