According to a latest research one volcanic eruption can possible skew the data on increasing sea levels.

For long, climate change models have estimated that sea levels would elevate as a result of warming. The same models suggested that increasing sea levels must also speed up over time. But though concrete raise in sea level have been documented, the rate has stayed at a steady 3 millimeters per year for over 20 years.

Now, researchers have probably finally figured out the reason. A study appeared in the journal Scientific Reports on Wednesday suggested that the Mt. Pinatubo volcanic eruption of 1991 in reality had cooled down Earth, provisionally dropping sea levels and getting rid of acceleration models.

In a statement, NCAR scientist John Fasullo, who headed the study, said, “When we used climate model runs designed to remove the effect of the Pinatubo eruption, we saw the rate of sea level rise accelerating in our simulations”.

When water temperature increases, it occupies more and more volume, as a result of a thermodynamics effect. Whereas, ice-sheets meltdown relocate liquid water into the ocean, increasing sea levels. But the real rate of increase can swing, thus, it’s very important for scientists to have a precise model of acceleration.

Situated in the Philippine island of Luzon, Mt. Pinatubo discharged 10 billion tons of magma at the time of eruption on June 15, 1991. After some months, the US space agency, NASA, and French space agency, CNES, came up with the first satellite altimeter, TOPEX/Poseidon, to check the sea level from the orbit. Numerous studies on sea level trends were based on the data collected by this satellite.

But Dr. Fasullo and his colleagues said the original data was skewed. The Pinatubo eruption released a large mass of aerosols obstructing the sunlight and provisionally decreased the temperature of the oceans.