Welcome to my webpage

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Hello and welcome to my webpage.

Volcanic eruptions have a significant potential to affect the climate system, environment and society. Our knowledge of their impacts, and the underlying cause-and-effect mechanisms is, however, far from complete. Volcanologists are aware of the consequences of historic Icelandic volcanic eruptions - the prime example being the 1783-1784 AD Laki eruption, which caused extreme environmental stress and led to increased mortality not only in Iceland but also in many parts of Europe. I am therefore researching the impacts of these large-scale Icelandic eruptions. I address fundamental physical processes driving the impact of these eruptions on the environment and the climate system using a Global Aerosol Model (GLOMAP) developed at the University of Leeds.

I carry my acquired knowledge forward by bridging the gap between volcanology, atmospheric science and epidemiology to quantify the potential hazard of a future Laki-style Icelandic eruption - a so-called "low-probability, high impact volcanic event" - for modern-day society. My results indicate that such a volcanic air pollution event would be a severe health hazard, increasing mortality in Europe by > 140,000 additional fatalities, which exceeds mortality due to seasonal influenza. I also show that such an event could pose a severe hazard to commercial aviation in Europe, particularly as a consequence of its SO2 emissions with implications for policy-makers, governmental bodies and the aviation industry.

If you want to learn more about my research feel free to have a look in the section "my research".

News:

I was recently awarded a Springer Thesis publication prize for my PhD thesis.

Icelandic Laki-style eruptions have now been added to the UK 2012 Risk Register

Also download a copy of our PNAS paper "Excess mortality in Europe following a future Laki-style Icelandic eruption" using the link Schmidt et al (2011)

Contact Details

Dr. Anja Schmidt
School of Earth and Environment
The University of Leeds
Leeds, LS2 9JT
United Kingdom

e-mail: a.schmidt[at]see.leeds.ac.uk

phone: +44 (0) 113 34 35612

twitter:

Aerosol group webpage: http://www.see.leeds.ac.uk/aerosol