A 200-YEAR RECORD OF GALE FREQUENCY, EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - POSSIBLE LINK WITH HIGH-MAGNITUDE VOLCANIC-ERUPTIONS

Most research concerned with the relationship between volcanic activit y and global climate change has focused on the impacts that volcanoes have on atmospheric temperature. Very little attention, however, has b een given to the effect of volcanic eruptions on patterns of stormines s. Here we present a historical record of gale-day frequency for Edinb urgh, Scotland, extending from AD 1780 to 1988 (the Mossman-Hickey chr onology), which we believe represents the longest historical record of gales in Europe. Calculation of gale-day frequency for this time inte rval shows three clear peaks in storminess that follow the volcanic er uptions of Tambora (1815), Krakatoa (1883) and El Chichon (1982). It a ppears that the greatest periods of storminess evident in the Edinburg h record during the last 200 years have taken place during relatively short intervals following major episodes of volcanism. If correct, the processes linking high-magnitude volcanic eruptions to storminess in the North Atlantic need to be included in IPCC research that presently focuses most attention on linkages between increased storminess and t he effects of global warming.