Lunar eclipses illuminate timing and climate impact of medieval volcanism

• Published in: Nature
• Main Authors: Guillet, Sébastien, Corona, Christophe, Oppenheimer, Clive, Lavigne, Franck, Khodri, Myriam, Ludlow, Francis, Sigl, Michael, Toohey, Matthew, Atkins, Paul, Yang, Zhen, Muranaka, Tomoko, Horikawa, Nobuko, Stoffel, Markus
• Other Authors: Climate Change Impacts and Risks in the Anthropocene (C-CIA), Institute for Environmental Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland (University of Geneva), Laboratoire de Géographie Physique et Environnementale (GEOLAB), Université Blaise Pascal - Clermont-Ferrand 2 (UBP)-Institut Sciences de l'Homme et de la Société (IR SHS UNILIM), Université de Limoges (UNILIM)-Université de Limoges (UNILIM)-Université Clermont Auvergne 2017-2020 (UCA 2017-2020 )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Clermont Auvergne (UCA), Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK (University of Cambridge), Laboratoire de géographie physique : Environnements Quaternaires et Actuels (LGP), Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12 (UPEC UP12)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat : Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPCité)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPCité), Trinity Centre for Environmental Humanities, Department of History, School of Histories & Humanities, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland (Trinity College Dublin), Climate and Environmental Physics, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland (University of Bern), Department of Physics and Engineering Physics, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. (University of Saskatchewan), Department of Asian Languages & Literature, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA (University of Washington), Climate Change Impacts and Risks in the Anthropocene (C-CIA), Institute for Environmental Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland. (University of Geneva), Department of Asian Languages & Literature, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. (University of Washington)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2023
• Subjects: [SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean; Atmosphere; [SHS.HISPHILSO]Humanities and Social Sciences/History; Philosophy and Sociology of Sciences; Greenland; ice core
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-03994058; https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-05751-z

International audience Volcanism is a key factor in climate variability from interannual to centennial timescales. Understanding the far-field societal impacts of eruption-forced climaticchange requires firm event chronologies and reliable estimates of both the burden and the altitude (that is, tropospheric versus stratospheric) of volcanic sulfateaerosol. However, despite progress in ice-core dating, uncertainties remain in these key factors. This particularly hinders investigation of the role of temporally clustered large eruptions during the High Medieval Period (HMP, 1100–1300 CE), which have been implicated in the transition from the warm Medieval Climate Anomaly to the Little Ice Age. Here we shed new light on volcanism during the HMP, drawing on analysis of contemporary reports of total lunar eclipses, from which we derive a time series of stratospheric turbidity. By combining this new record with aerosol model simulations and tree-ring-based climate proxies, we refine the estimated dates of five considerable eruptions and associate each with stratospheric aerosol veils. Five further eruptions, including one responsible for high sulfur deposition in Greenland circa 1182 CE, affected only the troposphere and had muted climatic consequences. Our findings offer support for further investigation of the decadal-scale to centennial-scale climate response to volcanic eruptions.