[8] Sulfur isotope composition of the 1458 sulfate indicates that the eruption emitted volcanic gases directly into the stratosphere, with significant impact on atmospheric chemistry and potential consequence for global climate.
The sulfate flux distribution in the ice cores suggests that the location of the source volcano is in the low latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere.
Further evidence is needed to establish the relation between formation of large submarine caldera and the apparently small mid-fifteenth century eruption preserved on land.
[3] As of early 2023, a new investigation led by volcanologists and anthropologists was ongoing to resolve the debate around the nature of Kuwae eruption and its climate consequence.
Unpublished radiocarbon data shows that there was a large Tofua eruption, which deposited more than 10 cm (3.9 in) of tephra over inhabited islands in Central Tonga around 1440–1640 AD.
[18] Hence, it is hypothesized that an eruption of small magnitude but geographically close to the ice core might have created the sulfate spike through a tropospherically transported aerosol cloud.
These weather and climate changes would be the result of a large aerosol cloud produced by a volcanic eruption spreading across the earth; however, medieval records of atmospheric phenomena are not always accurate.
The number of people who starved to death increased over these years, and the decreased quality of wine during the time period was noted in historical records.