The 1600 CE Huaynaputina eruption as a possible trigger for persistent cooling in the North Atlantic region

Paleoclimate reconstructions have identified a period of exceptional summer and winter cooling in the North Atlantic region following the eruption of the tropical volcano Huaynaputina (Peru) in 1600 CE. A previous study based on numerical climate simulations has indicated a potential mechanism for t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inClimate of the past Vol. 18; no. 4; pp. 739 - 757
Main Authors White, Sam, Moreno-Chamarro, Eduardo, Zanchettin, Davide, Huhtamaa, Heli, Degroot, Dagomar, Stoffel, Markus, Corona, Christophe
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Katlenburg-Lindau Copernicus GmbH 12.04.2022
Copernicus Publications
Subjects
17th century
Adaptation
Aerosols
Anomalies
Archives & records
Climate
Cooling
Data comparison
Earthquakes
Environmental conditions
Eruptions
Ice
Numerical simulations
Paleoclimate
Records
Sea ice
Simulation
Stratosphere
Temperature
Tropical climate
Volcanic activity
Volcanic eruption effects
Volcanoes
North Atlantic region
Scandinavia
Arctic region
Europe
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Summary:Paleoclimate reconstructions have identified a period of exceptional summer and winter cooling in the North Atlantic region following the eruption of the tropical volcano Huaynaputina (Peru) in 1600 CE. A previous study based on numerical climate simulations has indicated a potential mechanism for the persistent cooling in a slowdown of the North Atlantic subpolar gyre (SPG) and consequent ocean–atmosphere feedbacks. To examine whether this mechanism could have been triggered by the Huaynaputina eruption, this study compares the simulations used in the previous study both with and without volcanic forcing and this SPG shift to reconstructions from annual proxies in natural archives and historical written records as well as contemporary historical observations of relevant climate and environmental conditions. These reconstructions and observations demonstrate patterns of cooling and sea-ice expansion consistent with, but not indicative of, an eruption trigger for the proposed SPG slowdown mechanism. The results point to possible improvements in future model–data comparison studies utilizing historical written records. Moreover, we consider historical societal impacts and adaptations associated with the reconstructed climatic and environmental anomalies.
ISSN:1814-9332
1814-9324
1814-9332
DOI:10.5194/cp-18-739-2022