Volcanic Eruption and Climate Change - Essay Example

Apart from the volcanic eruptions dislodged continents and were responsible for the gradual changes in Earth’s overall mapping (Parfitt, E. A., & Wilson, L. (2008).
Donald Rapp in his book about climatic changes states that volcanic eruptions, though minor, are one of the factors for global warming, but inject radiations into the earth’s atmosphere. Volcanos erupt huge amounts of ash, magma and sulfuric contents that remain in the environment, polluting it. (Rapp, D. (2008)

When the issues regarding global warming got into the discussion, human activities like the release of gases having CFCs and the burning of fossil fuels were considered as the primary factors for the climatic change. But some people disagree and claim that human activities pose less danger to our environment than natural procedures such as volcanic eruptions. This statement led humans to study the effects of volcanic eruptions in detail. (Stenchikov, Georgiy L., Ingo Kirchner, Alan Robock, Hans-F. Graf, Juan Carlos Antuna, R. G. Grainger, Alyn Lambert, and Larry Thomason, 1998)

Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines got erupted on June 15, 1991, where approximately about 20 million tons of SO2 and ash particles spread into the air for more than 12 miles. The gases and solids that bumped into the atmosphere at the time Mount Pinatubo erupted lasted for 2 weeks in the air. The volcanic outbreak of this scale can shock the earth’s climate, dropping the number of sun rays getting in the Earth's shell, and altering the atmospheric activity model. But the degree to which these changes happen may vary. (Geology, sdsu; climatic effects of volcanic eruptions (2001).

The extensive volcanic motion may precede only a couple of days, but the huge outbreak of solid ash and gases containing high sulfur content may last for a long period of time. The erupted sulfuric gases convert themselves to “Sulfate Aerosols”. After the volcanic eruption, these aerosol particles may rest in the Earth’s stratosphere for as long as a period of two years. (Kirchner, I., G. Stenchikov, H.-F. Graf, A. Robock. J. Antuna, Climate model simulation of winter warming and summer cooling following the 1991 Mount Pinatubo volcanic eruption, J. Geophys. Res., 104, 19,039-19,055, 1999.)

The direct influence of volcanic eruptions causing changes climatic changes can discuss in the three factors outlined:
Effects of volcanic eruptions on the Ozone layer:-
Studies show that halide acid HCl affects the ozone layer. But only the major volcanic eruptions initiate such amounts of HCl acids that have the strength to enter the Stratosphere, while the rest remains in the Troposphere and gets washed away by rain. Therefore, it by no means has the chance to join with ozone. But the satellite imaging of the recent volcanic eruptions, like the one in the Philippines, has shown a decrease of the ozone layer at about nearly 20% at high altitudes. Hence, it becomes visible that volcanic eruptions can take part in reducing ozone levels in significant amounts. Luckily, volcanic particles like volcanic ash will resolve elsewhere in the stratosphere in two to three years, which tells us the effects live for a short span of time. Even though volcanic aerosols work as a catalyst for ozone reduction, the actual problems for the devastating ozone are man-made CFCs. For the recovery in ozone depletion, CFCs needs to be stopped, including the fact that volcanic activities will continue to fluctuate climate in the future. (Geology, sdsu; climatic effects of volcanic eruptions (2001).

Volcanic eruptions causing the “Haze Effect”:-
Volcanic activities boost the “Haze Effect” and maintain lowering the average climate of the Earth. Many geologists suggest that the ash particles that are released during volcanic eruptions block the solar radiations to reach the earth. Other than the ash particles Sulfur contents also play their role in the haze effect. Sulfur mingles with the water vapors present in the atmosphere to form heavy clouds that are acidic in nature. These drops take quite a few years to clear up and they are able to lessen the troposphere’s temperatures since they suck up solar emission and disperse it back to space. (Geology, sdsu; climatic effects of volcanic eruptions (2001).