Scientists originally thought the climate pattern began 22-25 million years ago as a result of the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalaya Mountains. But UA researchers say that’s not going back far enough.
The Asian monsoon already existed 40 million years ago during a period of high atmospheric carbon dioxide and warmer temperatures, reports an international research team led by a University of Arizona geoscientist. (more…)
Scientists have long known that large volcanic explosions can affect the weather by spewing particles that block solar energy and cool the air.
Some suspect that extended “volcanic winters” from gigantic eruptions helped kill off dinosaurs and Neanderthals.
In the summer following Indonesia’s 1815 Tambora eruption, frost wrecked crops as far away as New England, and the 1991 blowout of the Philippines’ Mount Pinatubo lowered average global temperatures by 0.7 degrees F — enough to mask the effects of greenhouse gases for a year or so. (more…)
