Cheering the Volcano June 9, 2019

The eruption of Mt Pinatubo, in 1991, was a critical moment in climate science.

As the video above explains, James Hansen’s temperature projections included, as a test – a built-in assumption of a large volcanic eruption in the tropics in the early 90s.

Experts comment on the accuracy of Hansen’s projections, as proven out in his modeling of the global change following the eruption.

Short version: It happened, and it showed the models were correct.

Now, a new major eruption in Indonesia might be large enough to help test and refine the models yet again.

Below, my 2009 video explaining how well models like Hansen’s have worked.

Mt Sinabung, Indonesia in very significant eruption today, June 9th! Eruption column reported to have reached ~17 km height. Report via Apocalipsis Mundial. pic.twitter.com/6IFpuxphia — severe-weather.EU (@severeweatherEU) June 9, 2019

If this gets into the stratosphere and we get a big radiative perturbation to the planet's energy balance, it will be a great chance to test our understanding of the climate system. https://t.co/xya9vAPoqw — Andrew Dessler (@AndrewDessler) June 9, 2019

Grim, but that’s where we are. Go Ash clouds!