I wonder how many tons of pollutants like mercury have spewed out of this volcano? How would the enviroMENTALists react if they knew that volcanoes polluted our environment many more times over than mankind does?
"I wonder how many tons of pollutants like mercury have spewed out of this volcano?
I am not aware of mercury being a major volcanic pollutant. Mt. Pinitubo and other volcanos have spewed out large amounts of sulfur/sulfuric acid air polution. Mt. Pinitubo was so large it cooled our weather for several years, probably causing among other disasters, the 500 year flood in the Mississippi River drainage.
I think Nitrous Oxide may be another significant pollutant, and I know that in 1783, the great Laki Fissure event in Iceland poured out vast quantities of florine gas. Most of the grazing in Iceland was destroyed, 90% of the livestock died, and 1/5th of the population (10,000 people) also died of starvation. This event also caused weird weather and crop failures in Europe, and may have been a significant factor in percipitating the French Revolution. Remember Marie Antoinette's famous reply when told the people had no bread, "Well, let them eat cake."
I guess the environMENTALists should be glad that we have volcanic pollution to cool global warming a bit.