Megavolcanoes, Pyrotornadoes, and Hurricanes - How Extreme Storms Can Influence Climate

Attend a physics colloquium exploring the critical role of extreme weather phenomena in climate dynamics through the lens of atmospheric water vapor transport. Discover how diverse storm systems including supercell thunderstorms, hurricanes, pyrocumulonimbus clouds, and volcanic plumes can penetrate the stratosphere and significantly impact upper atmospheric composition. Learn about the Above-Anvil Cirrus Plume (AACP) phenomenon, a unique ice and water vapor wake that forms downstream of overshooting deep convection and demonstrates remarkable capability to transport water high above the tropopause. Examine cutting-edge research using high-resolution large eddy simulations that reveals how AACPs form through a novel type of hydraulic jump at the tropopause, generating extreme wind speeds exceeding 110 m/s. Understand the implications of threshold behavior in storm systems that determines their effectiveness as stratospheric hydrators, and explore the potential blind spots in current large-scale climate models that cannot resolve these critical small-scale dynamics. Gain insights into how storm-induced stratospheric humidification represents an important feedback mechanism in climate systems, highlighting the intersection between severe weather dynamics and long-term climate evolution.