... Violent volcanic activity might be capable of modifying the earth's climate for years, or decades. Volcanoes can inject dust into the stratosphere; this leads to a larger fraction of the sunlight incident on the earth being reflected; this leads to less energy being absorbed by the Earth; this, in turn, leads to lower temperatures. ... Pinatubo eruption . ... The Mt Pinatubo eruption forced dust and sulphur dioxied into the stratosphere, which was distributed around the earth. ...