Volcanoes with a felsic melt composition produce extremely explosive eruptions that can inject massive quantities of dust and aerosols high into the atmosphere . These particulate emissions are potent climate forcing agents , and can provoke a wide variety of responses including warming , cooling , and rainwater acidification . The climatic response depends on the altitude of the dust cloud as well as the size and composition of the dust . Some volcanic silicates cooled extremely quickly , created a glassy texture ; their dark colour and reflective nature absorb some radiation and reflect the rest . Such volcanic material injected into the stratosphere blocks solar radiation , heating that layer of the atmosphere and cooling the area beneath it . Wind patterns can distribute the dust over vast geographic regions ; for example , the 1815 eruption of Tambora in Indonesia produced so much dust that a cooling of 1 degree Celsius was noted as far away as New England , and lasted for several months . Europeans and Americans called its effect “ the year without a summer ”
1815 eruption of Tambora
1815 eruption of Mount Tambora
Tectonic–climatic interaction