Climatic effects of eruptions: A closer view
In one way, volcanic eruptions have changed the environment to the core. As much as volcanic eruptions are natural events, their influences on global climatic and atmospheric conditions, most are wide-ranging. Volcanic eruptions and climate change is complex in itself because the eruptions of volcanoes have cooled and warmed Earth’s atmosphere depending on the nature of the eruption and materials produced.
Volcanic Eruptions and Cooling of Climate
One of the most direct impacts that eruptions from volcanoes have on climate is a cooling effect resulting from volcanic ash and gases into the atmosphere. Volcanic eruptions can release enormous quantities of sulfur dioxide (SO2) into the upper atmosphere. Once in the stratosphere, the sulfur dioxide mixes with water vapor to form droplets of sulfuric acid. This droplets of water scatter the sunrays from earth, hence large quantities of sunlight which would have otherwise streamed on to earth surface would not be reached.
Such a cooling is “volcanic winter.” It can even last for months or perhaps years. Eruptions with the volume of Philippines’ Mount Pinatubo in 1991 have, as an example, already seen to decrease the global average temperature by around 0.5°C or 0.9°F several years past eruptions have occurred. The cooling influences the length of growing season, alters rainfalls patterns, and even leads to failure crops.
Effects on Direct Patterns of Weathers
Volcanic ash directly affects weather patterns if eruptions are big enough. The particles of ash that are produced during such eruptions stay suspended in the atmosphere for a long time before eventually causing the reduction of sunlight that strikes the Earth. This decreases temperatures near the site of eruption for the short term.
Apart from cooling effects, the volcanic ash affects normal weather pattern. Impacts are effects of the change in the distribution of rainfalls and even intensification of storm activity caused by a change in the dynamics of the atmosphere created by suspended particles in the air. Thus, in 1815, an eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia caused the year that is described, in layman’s terms as “The Year Without a Summer.” Crop failures and food shortages that followed brought poor weather that reached maturity in the Northern Hemisphere.
Long-term implication for the climate: Greenhouse gas and warming
Although the eruptions on climate have generally affected short-term impacts of cooling, there is observed implication for long-term impact on the climate as well, caused by warming. Along with sulfur dioxide emission, volcanoes emit more massive volumes of gases; carbon dioxide is an emission of eruptions in the atmosphere in which global warming impacts it as a greenhouse gas. The volcanoes do emit more carbon emissions, but compare with fossil-fueled emissions. But if frequent over time, it would tend to cumulatively accumulate through CO2 from eruptions toward greenhouse effect.
One of the challenges to try to analyze the long-term influence on the climate of volcanic eruptions is the size of an eruption. Major eruptions can emit a fair amount of CO2; minor eruptions would therefore normally add much less than the total concentration of greenhouse gases. In general, most scientists believe the climate effects of volcanic eruptions on the climate, to include warming are very small compared to anthropogenic releases of CO2 from industrial processes.
Volcanic eruptions and the carbon cycle
Other important interferences of this climatic action are the natural carbon cycle of the Earth and volcanic eruption. The existence of volcano, has natural carbon cycle that exhales only CO2 yet it has an action within Earth that cancels its, oceans and forests which absorb their carbon. It is being thus modified with the rate amplified of the human-made emission of CO2.
Interestingly, eruptions of volcanoes seem to have at least short-term positive effects on the carbon cycle. Volcanic ash is loaded with minerals which the soils require to help growth vegetation properly. In short, in the long run assimilation of more vegetation even soil could be one little mitigating factor against an increase in the levels of CO2 in the atmosphere.
Regional Impact Of Volcanic Eruptions
At global scale, eruptions can at times have extreme effects on climate, though it is more influential at regional scale. For instance, emissions of sulfur dioxide and ash particles influence air quality and visibility to such extent that health problems may rise for human beings. Generally, much air traffic is disturbed because flying through volcanic ash clouds is dangerous as shown in 2010 by Eyjafjallajökull eruption in Iceland.
Not only does it affect the traveling air, but it has a direct effect locally in forests, rivers, lakes, etc. Although ash deposits on land may eventually become fertile soil, short-term loss is the loss of vegetation, loss of habitat to different species of wildlife, and potencies of water sources that can take many decades in some cases to recover locally.
Long Term Consequences: Contribution to Climate Change
Since there are still evidences that human activities enhance global temperatures, scientists manifest great interest in whether the volcanic eruptions contribute in the change of climate. Being in the hands of mother earth, relationships with the atmosphere on the issues of volcanoes would be important on how such events of nature would eventually impact human-driven climate change. Actually, it is even recommended by some scientists that volcanic eruptions could be used for the future climate management not only if the Earth surface needs to be cooled but also much more intensively at critical increases of the temperature. However, related ethical, environmental and political problems are quite sophisticated.
Conclusion:Climate Impact Volcanic eruptions, being in their nature of sizes and scales, have, therefore, multifaceted climate impact. Apparently extreme cooling events are associated with very large eruptions that also induce or regulate the global weather patterns, and thus, in the long term, lead to warming through the carbon dioxide emitted by the greenhouse gases. This will represent the essential foundation upon which any adequate climate model then needs to be built as reconciling these opposed effects with regional features.
Since we are changing climate policies and technology, then such things as human and natural causes need to be taken into account within the prediction of future changes in climatic conditionality and preparedness for possible disruption.
Source:U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)