February 23, 2014

expert reaction to volcanic contribution to slow surface warming

Nature Geoscience published an article showing volcanic eruptions over the past decade or so have cooled global lower-atmosphere temperatures to a statistically significant degree, which can partly explain the slowdown in temperature rise since 1998.

Prof Piers Forster, Professor of Climate Change at the University of Leeds, said:

“This is a good paper and confirms the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change position that recent volcanoes contribute to the slowdown but cannot be the only cause.  Volcanoes give us only a temporary respite from the relentless warming pressure of continued increases in CO2.”

‘Volcanic contribution to decadal changes in tropospheric temperature’ by Benjamin D. Santer et al. published in Nature Geoscience on Sunday 23 February 2014.