Word: chichon
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Offsetting the obvious weaknesses of climate models, says Warren Washington, who developed the model now used at NCAR, is one significant advantage. "They are experimental tools that allow us to test our hypotheses," he says. "We can ask such questions as 'What happens when a big volcano like El Chichon goes off?' and 'How much will the earth warm up by 2030 if we continue to dump CO2 into the atmosphere...
...enough, the oscillation's original cause remains uncertain. In the past, scientists have speculated that it may be the work of sunspots (the magnetic storms on the face of the sun that periodically reduce its radiation) or even planetary alignments. Currently, much of the theorizing centers on El Chichon, the Mexican volcano that erupted last year and ejected huge clouds of dust into the atmosphere. By obscuring sunlight, it may have upset the planet's heat balance enough to disturb the atmosphere and oceans...
...next summer-enough to affect growing seasons and rainfall. Others say the effect will be too negligible, only a few tenths of a degree. Scientists will have plenty of time to decide the issue: it may take up to five years before all the dust from El Chichon settles back to earth. Says DeLuisi: "We've got a nice little experiment going on here...