Matthias Dörries
Université Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg
Nature experiments: Volcanic eruptions and climate change
Abstract:
I discuss the relation between volcanology and climate change science
from the 1950s to the 1990s. From the 1970s, this interdisciplinary
field drew upon a wide range of disciplines and experimental practices,
including new instruments (LIDAR, satellites), new techniques (new proxy
indicators in historical climatology such as ice and sea cores, computer
modeling), new theories (the chemical mechanisms in the atmosphere and
General Circulation Models), and experiments in the field. The latter
impose crucial limits, as they depend entirely on nature's arbitrary
schedule for large explosive volcanic eruptions (a constraint that
forces geoscientists to do more historical work than they would like).
A primary impetus to this research field with its focus on global
phenomena was funding motivated by rising environmental and political
concerns for the earth as a whole.
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