Watts Up With That?

The UAH Satellite Temperature Record With Volcanic Noise Outliers Filtered Out

A guest post by Steven Goddard

I’ve often wondered what the UAH global temperature record would look like if the cooling effects of the eruptions of El Chichón in April, 1982 and Mount Pinatubo in June, 1991 were removed.  Large volcanic eruptions shoot fine ash up to very high altitudes, which makes the upper atmosphere less transparent, allowing less sunlight (SW radiation) to reach the lower atmosphere.  This has a noticeable cooling effect on the lower atmosphere and the earth’s surface which can last for years, as can be seen in the figures below.  Note how the lower troposphere temperatures were depressed during periods when the atmospheric transmission was also depressed.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Mauna_Loa_atmospheric_transmission.png

Next let’s look at the UAH satellite record:
Read the rest of this entry »