Earth Sciences

Tropical volcanism enhanced the East Asian summer monsoon during the last millennium

F. Liu, C. Gao, et al.

This research reveals the surprising link between extreme East Asian summer monsoon rainfall and strong tropical volcanic eruptions. The findings suggest that the first summer after such eruptions sees intensified rainfall, potentially leading to floods, as explored by the authors Fei Liu, Chaochao Gao, Jing Chai, Alan Robock, Bin Wang, Jinbao Li, Xu Zhang, Gang Huang, and Wenjie Dong.

00:00

Playback language: English

Index

Abstract

Extreme East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) rainfall frequently induces floods. While generally attributed to internal climate variability, this study presents evidence for significant EASM intensification following strong tropical volcanic eruptions. Multi-proxy analyses reveal increased EASM in the first summer after eruptions (1470 AD–present), linked to more frequent El Niños in the following boreal winter. Model simulations show that volcano-induced El Niño, and its associated warm pool air-sea interaction, intensifies EASM precipitation, outweighing volcanic-induced moisture deficiency. This highlights the complex interplay between external forcing and internal climate variability in shaping EASM and potential flood disasters.

Publisher

Nature Communications

Published On

Jun 14, 2022

Authors

Fei Liu, Chaochao Gao, Jing Chai, Alan Robock, Bin Wang, Jinbao Li, Xu Zhang, Gang Huang, Wenjie Dong

Related Publications

Explore these studies to deepen your understanding of the subject.

Earth Sciences

East Gobi megalake systems reveal East Asian Monsoon dynamics over the last interglacial-glacial cycle

H. Li, X. Yang, et al.

Earth Sciences

An emerging Asian aerosol dipole pattern reshapes the Asian summer monsoon and exacerbates northern hemisphere warming

B. Xiang, S. Xie, et al.

Earth Sciences

Recent autumn sea ice loss in the eastern Arctic enhanced by summer Asian-Pacific Oscillation

B. Zhou, Z. Song, et al.

Earth Sciences

Niche-dependent forest and savanna fragmentation in Tropical South America during the Last Glacial Maximum

D. I. Kelley, H. Sato, et al.

Listen, Learn & Level Up

Over 10,000 hours of research content in 25+ fields, available in 12+ languages.

No more digging through PDFs, just hit play and absorb the world's latest research in your language, on your time.

listen to research audio papers with researchbunny