Do Volcanoes Affect Weather?

Our blue planet is dynamic; always changing. We live and depend on the Earth’s crust, formed and reformed by millions of once-active volcanoes and tremendous volumes of magma.The crust is magma that cooled below the surface. Volcanism has resulted in many valuable natural resources throughout our world. For example, volcanic ash from Iceland will blow over thousands of square miles of land resulting in increased soil fertility of forests and agriculture by adding Earth’s natural nutrients and acting as a mulch. Global cooling too! Heating and cooling, and heating again is the cause of fjords. It would be a catastrophe if the planet was stagnant for billions of years, but that’s not an excuse to abuse, waste, or liter. Read about fjords: http://hd2o.tv/flog/2009/polish-academy-of-sciences-challenge-gore-theory/

Mount Pinatubo in 1991:

The June 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo was global. Slightly cooler than usual temperatures recorded worldwide and the brilliant sunsets and sunrises have been attributed to this eruption that sent fine ash and gases high into the stratosphere, forming a large volcanic cloud that drifted around the world. The sulfur dioxide (SO2) in this cloud — about 22 million tons — combined with water to form droplets of sulfuric acid, blocking some of the sunlight from reaching the Earth and thereby cooling temperatures in some regions by as much as 0.5 degrees C. An eruption the size of Mount Pinatubo could affect the weather for a few years.

Tambora in 1815:

A similar phenomenon occurred in April of 1815 with the cataclysmic eruption of Tambora Volcano in Indonesia, the most powerful eruption in recorded history. Tambora’s volcanic cloud lowered global temperatures by as much as 3 degrees C. Even a year after the eruption, most of the northern hemisphere experienced sharply cooler temperatures during the summer months. In parts of Europe and in North America, 1816 was known as “the year without a summer.”

Pompeii in 79 A.D.

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This Roman town near Naples in the Italian region of Campania, was destroyed and completely buried during a long catastrophic eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius spanning just two days. The volcano collapsed roofs and buried Pompeii under 20 m (66 ft) of ash and pumice. It was lost for 1,600 years before its accidental rediscovery in 1592.

So the answer is YES, volcanoes have a very profound affect on weather! Volcanoes cool planet Earth. They also affect Man, and there is nothing we can do about it… or the weather. But we can positively impact our space: recycle.

via CVO Website - Do Volcanoes Affect Weather?

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By KENNETH CHANG, NY TIMES

September 10, 2009

With ferocious flames and smoke in the barren Utah hills north of Salt Lake City, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration on Thursday successfully test fired the first stage of a new rocket. read on

Scuba dive along the Florida Keys and you will notice a gentle pull of the Gulf Stream, always flowing Northeast.  In fact the Gulf of Mexico is slightly higher than the Atlantic sea level. The Keys block flow like rocks in a stream.  Tides come and go, but the Gulf flow is smooth and steady, and full of life.

At the very end of the earth- the very tip of the Key’s island chain- is Dry Tortugas. Key West is 100+ miles from Florida; Tortugas is another 70 miles west of Key West.  Cuba is only 90 miles as the missile flies, but southerly.

If you jump into the unprotected waters off Garden Key, home of Fort Jefferson, you would be carried along by the Gulf Stream at a 5 knot clip.  That’s just the surface.  All that water is also flowing, massive volumes of rich ocean water form the North Atlantic Elevator which carries warm water past Cape Cod and all the way to Europe.

Let’s drop some ocean turbines directly in-line with that current.  In a recently proposal to the National Park Service I proposed exactly that for Dry Tortugas. The proposal was submitted on October 3, 2008 and contained the idea in general terms.  That’s exactly what I read in the Wall Street Journal today. Everybody Into the Ocean.