How will the Iceland volcano effect the Earth's climate?
Just how will the currently erupting volcano at Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull glacier effect the Earth's climate? We are already seeing the immediate effects as ash clouds have grounded many flights across and to Europe, but will there be longer term consequences for the world climate?
Volcano's in the past have had major impacts on world climate.
The main cooling event of the past 20 years was in 1991, when Mount Pinatubo erupted in the Philippines. It cooled Earth's surface by almost a full degree Fahrenheit over the next year, enough to offset the impact of greenhouse gases from 1991 to 1993. A smaller cooling episode occurred in 1980, when Mount St. Helens in the US state of Washington blew its top, an event that while impressive disgorged only a tenth of the material of Pinatubo.
The cooling comes from a very simple formula: The volcano spews out a huge amount of fine volcanic ash and sulphur dioxide, which are transported into the high stratosphere. There a fine layer of whitish particles is created that for months or years are blown around the Earth and reflect some of the Sun's rays rather than let the radiation reach the ground.
Don't expect the volcano in Iceland to have widespread, longterm consequences though. "At the moment, we are looking at something that's about 100 times smaller than Mount St. Helen's. At the scale it's at now, it's relatively unlikely that it will have any perceptible effect on climate," explained Kathryn Goodenough of the British Geological Survey.
So while the volcano in Iceland is quite interesting, and will have some shorter term travel effects and such. Do not expect longer term climate effects from it unless the eruption lasts several months.
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