Earozoru Kenkyu
Online ISSN : 1881-543X
Print ISSN : 0912-2834
ISSN-L : 0912-2834
Feature Articles—Effects of Atmospheric Aerosols on Climate II—
Super Eruption and “Volcanic Winter”
Masaki TAKAHASHI
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JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

2012 Volume 27 Issue 3 Pages 278-283

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Abstract
Super-eruption release voluminous sulfuric gas into the atmosphere, which produce a large amount of sulfuric acid aerosol in the stratosphere. The sulfuric acid aerosol reflects incoming solar radiation, giving rise to the rapid climatic cooling called the “volcanic winter” on the Earth’s surface. The Toba super-eruption 74,000 years ago, the largest eruption in a million years on the Earth, erupted as much as 2,800 km3 of felsic magma. The average global temperature is estimated to have lowered more than 10°C by the Toba super-eruption, which is inferred to have caused a severe bottleneck of the human population. Modern civilized human society will also suffer fatal damage by “volcanic winter”, if a super-eruption were to occur today.
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© 2012 Japan Association of Aerosol Science and Technology
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