HR: 17:57h
AN: A34A-05 INVITED     [Abstracts]
TI: Effects of Mount Pinatubo Volcanic Eruption on the Hydrological Cycle as an Analog of Geoengineering
AU: * Trenberth, K E
EM: trenbert@ucar.edu
AF: NCAR, PO Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307, United States
AB: Much of my work in recent years has been devoted to understanding the hydrological and energy cycles. The incoming radiant energy from the sun is transformed into various forms (internal heat, potential energy, latent energy, and kinetic energy) moved around in various ways primarily by the atmosphere and oceans, stored and sequestered in the ocean, land, and ice components of the climate system, and ultimately radiated back to space as infrared radiation. The requirement for an equilibrium climate mandates a balance between the incoming and outgoing radiation and further mandates that the flows of energy are systematic. The imbalance at top of atmosphere from increasing greenhouse gases from human activities creates warming. The central concern with geoengineering fixes to global warming is that the cure could be worse than the disease. The problem of global warming arises from the buildup of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide from burning of fossil fuels and other human activities that change the composition of the atmosphere. However, the solution proposed is to reduce the incoming sunshine by emulating a volcanic eruption. In between the incoming solar radiation and the outgoing longwave radiation is the entire weather and climate system and the operation of the hydrological cycle. The eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 is used as an analog for the geoengineering and show that there was a substantial decrease in precipitation over land and a record decrease in runoff and streamflow in 1992, suggesting that major adverse effects, such as drought, could arise from such geoengineering solutions.
DE: 1600 GLOBAL CHANGE
DE: 1620 Climate dynamics (0429, 3309)
DE: 1655 Water cycles (1836)
SC: Atmospheric Sciences [A]
MN: 2007 Joint Assembly