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You and me both. I was in Port Townsend WA. and we heard it blow from there. Fortunately the prevailing winds did not bring any ash our way.
Be it as it may, St Helens was a small eruption with a modest VEI of 5.
The verifiable eruptions listed are posted at Global Volcanism Program, Volcanoes of the World, Large Holocene Eruptions - http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/largeeruptions.cfm
“Massive” in volcano speak is anything above a VEI of 6. St Helens at VEI 5 was a hicup or just large. Keep in mind that a super volcano eruption is anything with a VEI of 9 or above.
I have no idea what the “study” volcanoes are. I only posted the known eruptions around that time which would be considered “massive” - draw your own conclusions.
That the “study” centers around a 50 yr period for an event (LIA), which took place over hundreds of years, leaves one wondering just what the point was. I smell a need for more grant money ...
I know that St. Helens was not a huge eruption compared to other volcanic events throughout history. It was still an impressive reminder of the awesome power of nature. I was climbing it with a group of friends just a couple of years before. The day it blew up I was at some friends house that had a perfect view of the entire North Western side of the mountain.
I don't doubt at all that volcanic activity can have a profound effect on the climate for a few years at the least. Studying volcanic activity's influence on the climate may actually be worth a little grant money? The thing that makes me uneasy about this particular study is the cast of characters involved, the study’s reliance on a computer model and at least in this article... the lack of documentation as to which historically documented events that they are referring to, and as you note the time-line that they are referring to.
I also am suspicious of any theory that has simple explanations about a system as complicated as the world's climate.
My wife and I own a small airplane. Many years ago we were flying back from California and we ran into bad weather. We had both been feeling poorly and got off to a slow start. We also had a headwind. In Northern California we found ourselves late at night between two layers of clouds over mountains with thunderstorm activity, heavy rain, turbulence and very poor visibility.
By the time we made it down to where we were flying above I-5 just North of Grants Pass, my wife had become extremely rattled. We were a few hundred feet over the freeway and still getting bounced around pretty severely. It was pitch black, the heavy rain was pelting the windscreen and we could see almost nothing. To top it off we were running low on fuel. She started crying and sobbing that she would rather be giving birth again. It was at that point that I realized at a visceral level that it is generally not one thing that causes a pilot to lose control of his / her airplane... it is all of the factors combined.
I am suspicious of simple explanations for complex systems. Volcanic activity may very well have been a contributor to the start of the Little Ice Age, but I think trying to ignore solar activity and other factors is unwise and most likely motivated by an alarmist agenda and not good science.