Climatic impact of the A.D. 1783 Asama (Japan) Eruption was minimal: Evidence from the GISP2 Ice Core

Zielinski, Gregory A.; Fiacco, R. Joseph; Mayewski, Paul Andrew; Meeker, L. David; Whitlow, Sallie I.; Twickler, Mark S.; Germani, Mark S.; Endo, Kazuhiko; Yasui, Mana

doi:10.1029/94gl02481

Cited by 29 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Although Mount Asama in Japan had also erupted violently in August 1783, this explosion left no significant trace in polar ice, and therefore its influence on the Northern Hemisphere's weather may be doubted (Zielinski et al, 1994).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The great dry fog of 1783

Stothers

1996

Climatic Change

106

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A persistent dry haze hung over Europe during the second half of 1783. Spawned by the Laki basalt fissure eruption in southern Iceland, this fog evoked much contemporary written commentary, from which the course of events is here reconstructed in a quantitative way. It was the densest European dry fog since the late Middle Ages, and it lay primarily in the troposphere. Spreading broadly toward the south and east, it nevertheless remained mostly confined to the North Atlantic, western Eurasia, and the Arctic. Previously it was believed by many to have risen to the middle stratosphere and to have blanketed much of North America. Composed of sulfuric-acid aerosols, its total mass reached about 200 megatons, as determined from its observed optical thickness. Several authors have pointed out that it may have been responsible for the cold winter of 1783-84, which caused much economic and social distress in many parts of the Northem Hemisphere. As the earliest dry fog to be studied scientifically, it remains the paradigm even today and poses an interesting challenge to climate modelers.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The great dry fog of 1783

Stothers

1996

Climatic Change

106

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“…It is more likely that the cooling events are due to suppressed solar activity from the 1790s to 1820s (Dalton Minimum), which also coincides with global cooling [e.g., Ruzmaikin et al, 2004]. Although Zielinski et al [1994] concluded that an eruption of Asama (central Japan) in the same year as Laki did not affect the global climate, regional historical records revealed that ash fall and unusual 'dry fogs' in August subsequent to the bad crop in the previous year devastated the societal conditions seriously at that time [e.g., Hayakawa and Nakajima, 1998]. The cooling events identified as our periods II and III support this historical episode.…”

Section: Historical Notesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reconstruction of early spring temperature for central Japan from the tree‐ring widths of Hinoki cypress and its verification by other proxy records

Yonenobu

Eckstein

2006

Geophysical Research Letters

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We describe the results of a dendroclimatic study in central Japan using ring width data from living trees of Hinoki cypress. February–April temperatures were reconstructed for the period AD 1719–1961. This reconstruction, from which five cooling events were determined for the late Little Ice Age, was validated against other climate proxies. There is a reasonable agreement with cold periods previously estimated from documentary records in Japan and China. A notably good agreement is also found for a dendroclimatic reconstruction for Korea, suggesting that the annual activity of the winter monsoon in the western Pacific Rim persisted longer in the 19th century than at present. Records of prolonged famines and unusual climatic phenomena support the reconstruction of the cold periods in the 1780s, 1810s and 1830s. It is thus revealed that the Hinoki chronology has enough potential to reconstruct the climatic variability further into the past.

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“…Briffa et al (1998) found changes in tree rings which indicated a Northern Hemisphere mean temperature anomaly of −0.27 • C (±0.3 • C being the 95% confidence limits of this change). However, Zielinski et al (1994) assert that Asama probably had little climatic impact based on previous eruptions; perhaps this was because Asama eruptions generally do not release much sulphur (Kohno et al, 1993). This eruption may, however, account for reports of a cold wet summer in Japan during 1783 (Mikami, 1987).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atmospheric impact of the 1783–1784 Laki Eruption: Part II Climatic effect of sulphate aerosol

Highwood

Stevenson

2003

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

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Abstract. The long 1783-1784 eruption of Laki in southern Iceland, was one of the first eruptions to have been linked to an observed climate anomaly, having been held responsible for cold temperatures over much of the Northern Hemisphere in the period 1783-1785. Results from the first climate model simulation of the impact of a similar eruption to that of 1783-1784 are presented. Using sulphate aerosol fields produced in a companion chemical transport model simulation by Stevenson et al. (2003), the radiative forcing and climate response due to the aerosol are calculated here using the Reading Intermediate General Circulation Model (IGCM). The peak Northern Hemisphere mean direct radiative forcing is −5.5 Wm −2 in August 1783. The radiative forcing dies away quickly as the emissions from the volcano decrease; however, a small forcing remains over the Mediterranean until March 1784. There is little forcing in the Southern Hemisphere. There is shown to be an uncertainty of at least 50% in the direct radiative forcing due to assumptions concerning relative humidity and the sophistication of the radiative transfer code used. The indirect effects of the Laki aerosol are potentially large but essentially unquantifiable at the present time. In the IGCM at least, the aerosol from the eruption produces a climate response that is spatially very variable. The Northern Hemisphere mean temperature anomaly averaged over the whole of the calendar year containing most of the eruption is −0.21 K, statistically significant at the 95% level and in reasonable agreement with the available observations of the temperature during 1783.

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Climatic impact of the A.D. 1783 Asama (Japan) Eruption was minimal: Evidence from the GISP2 Ice Core

Cited by 29 publications

References 18 publications

The great dry fog of 1783

The great dry fog of 1783

Reconstruction of early spring temperature for central Japan from the tree‐ring widths of Hinoki cypress and its verification by other proxy records

Atmospheric impact of the 1783–1784 Laki Eruption: Part II Climatic effect of sulphate aerosol

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