excerpt: START
In addition to the ash, Mount Pinatubo ejected between 15 and 30 million tons of sulfur dioxide gas. Sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere mixes with water and oxygen in the atmosphere to become sulfuric acid, which in turn triggers ozone depletion. Over 90% of the material released from the volcano was ejected during the nine hour eruption of June 15.
The eruption plume of Mount Pinatubo's various gases and ash reached high into the atmosphere within two hours of the eruption, attaining an altitude of 34 km (21 miles) high and over 400 km (250 miles) wide. This eruption was the largest disturbance of the stratosphere since the eruption of Krakatau in 1883 (but ten times larger than Mount St. Helens in 1980). The aerosol cloud spread around the earth in two weeks and covered the planet within a year. During 1992 and 1993, the Ozone hole over Antarctica reached an unprecedented size.
The cloud over the earth reduced global temperatures. In 1992 and 1993, the average temperature in the Northern Hemisphere was reduced 0.5 to 0.6°C and the entire planet was cooled 0.4 to 0.5°C. The maximum reduction in global temperature occurred in August 1992 with a reduction of 0.73°C. The eruption is believed to have influenced such events as 1993 floods along the Mississippi river and the drought in the Sahel region of Africa. The United States experienced its third coldest and third wettest summer in 77 years during 1992.
Overall, the cooling effects of the Mount Pinatubo eruption were greater than those of the El Niño that was taking place at the time or of the greenhouse gas warming of the planet. Remarkable sunrises and sunsets were visible around the globe in the years following the Mount Pinatubo eruption.
excerpt: STOP
Imagine a second eruption occurring at the same time on earth... imagine dozens of eruptions occurring at the same time, over hundreds if not thousands of years... hmmm.
I do not dispute the fact that the earth has been struck by extraterrestial objects from time to time. I think that the more likely, yet less dramatic source for cataclysmic weather phenomenons are volcanic eruptions.
http://geography.about.com/od/globalproblemsandissues/a/pinatubo.htm
comets and asteroids seem to be in vogue right now, last night the earth was destroyed by the “BIG ONE!!!”(on cable t.v. at least.)
And now you ask me to, “Imagine a second eruption occurring at the same time on earth... imagine dozens of eruptions occurring at the same time, over hundreds if not thousands of years... “
I am drawing the curtains and in the darkness assuming the fetal position beside my keyboard.