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Stratospheric warming following the El Chichón volcanic eruption

A Corrigendum to this article was published on 01 April 1983

A Corrigendum to this article was published on 01 April 1983

Abstract

The eruption of the Mexican volcano El Chichón (17°24′ N, 93°00′W) on 29 March 1982 provided the opportunity for monitoring the effects of a major volcanic eruption on the Earth's atmosphere, and thus for furthering our understanding of the causes of climatic fluctuations. The eruption injected a large quantity of material high into the stratosphere. There have been reports of dust above 30 km (A. Strong, personal communication). We now report a warming of the equatorial lower stratosphere after the eruption of El Chichón, and conclude that this warming was a combined effect of the eruption and of the tropical stratospheric quasi-biennial oscillation.

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Parker, D., Brownscombe, J. Stratospheric warming following the El Chichón volcanic eruption. Nature 301, 406–408 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1038/301406a0

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