Posted on 04/16/2010 7:20:31 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
PARIS (AFP) – Big volcanic eruptions have had a cooling effect on Earth's climate, but the Icelandic event is too small to provide any such respite from manmade global warming, scientists said on Friday.
The benchmark cooling event of the past 20 years was in 1991, when Mount Pinatubo erupted in the Philippines.
It cooled Earth's surface by 0.5 degrees Celsius (0.9 degrees 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 chill comes from a simple formula: The volcano spews out a huge amount of fine volcanic ash and sulphur dioxide, which are transported into the high altitude layer known as the stratosphere.
There, chemistry and physics combine, creating a fine layer of whitish particles 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.
"Basically, it's like putting a reflector shield over the windscreen of your car -- you're stopping the inside of the atmosphere getting too warm," said Colin Macpherson of Durham University, northeastern England.
.. the eruption at Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull glacier so far was too small, did not have sufficient sulphur content and its plume circulated at too low an altitude to make an impact.
Any effect will be "very insignificant," said Scylla Sillayo of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) in Geneva.
"At the moment, we are looking at something that's about 100 times smaller than Mount St. Helen's. .. Kathryn Goodenough of the British Geological Survey (BGS).
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Put your slicker on, air repsirator too, Corrosive pumice is nasty stuff..
My gramma used to use a pumice soap to wash me mouth out as a kid.
Maybe the end of the earth prediction of 2011 is right on course.
Lightning streaks across the sky as lava flows from a volcano in Eyjafjallajokul April 17, 2010. An Icelandic volcano that is spewing ash into the air and wreaking havoc on flights across Europe appeared to be easing up on Saturday but could continue to erupt for days or even months to come, officials said. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson (ICELAND - Tags: DISASTER ENVIRONMENT IMAGES OF THE DAY)
looks like a cat
Viking Kitty. ;-)
Heck, it snowed in Tokyo on Friday night. That is the first time in 41
years. This has been the longest winter I’ve ever experienced in Tokyo.
Wow--any pics?
Nope. Too busy partying. It was still sticking on the ground a bit in the shadows on Sunday.
Chiba too.... I use forecastfox on my PC.. it told me it was snowing here and I didn’t believe it.. had to look... and it WAS snowing!
Tokyo was also my first ever white Christmas (about 11 years ago).
Bikk
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