Volcanoes, Weather, and God

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Volcanoes, Weather and God |

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3/15/2014 |

Ash. Fire. Gases. Lava. Extreme heat. Eruption. Disruption. Change. God. What effect do volcanic eruptions have on the weather? |

Wild explosions shooting hot lava and gases into the atmosphere would rattle the calmest of people. I am not the calmest of people. Volcanoes scare me to my core. The fact that they heat to such extreme temperatures, along with their unpredictability have always put the fear in me. The scientific facets of the volcanoes are a whole other aspect of that fear.

Volcanoes emit both sulfur dioxide, which can aide in global cooling, as well as carbon dioxide which is a greenhouse gas that promotes global warming. Seems ludicrous that the same volcano can create the possibility for both global warming and cooling at the same time.

Sulfur dioxide clouds turn to sulfuric acid in the atmosphere, changing quickly into a sulfate aerosol. This aerosol aides in global cooling for possibly two to three years, depending on the volcano and the strength of its eruption. Conversely, carbon dioxide is a component in global warming. However, there is no actual link to global warming and volcanic eruption, and the reason for the lack of that link is that the amounts of carbon dioxide emitted from a volcano is extremely minimal, especially in comparison to man-made carbon dioxide.

In 1783, after the eruption of the volcano Laki (in Iceland), Benjamin Franklin noted that volcanic eruptions appeared to have an effect on the weather and climate. He noted a "fog" over Europe and it was recorded that the winter that year was especially cold. Franklin proposed that there was a connection between the volcanic eruption and the cold winter in such that this fog (or haze) created a barrier to the sunlight. It has since been verified that sulfur dioxide does, indeed, create a "haze" in the atmosphere, causing less sunlight to get through, thus causing global...