Volcanos are better than airplanes!

[sithrose]

In a truly classic example of how to look like you have no idea what you're talking about, a reporter discussing the potential effects of an ongoing eruption on Europe's economy had this to say: "The climate, too, might benefit from the absence of polluting aircraft in the sky, though the cancellation of 100,000 or so flights would amount to just a

Comments

[dire5]

Volcanic gases, believe it or not, are in the long-run good for the planet - any sulfur in the plume will eventually come down as acidic rain of a sort, but the ash cloud blocks many, many times more solar radiation than anything we can do to block the sun's rays to cut down on how much heat we're receiving.

I'm not 200% sure on this, but I think most volcanoes have more oxygen in their gas column than carbon-related emissions, so on the whole, volcanoes generally don't contribute to greenhouse...

Ok, yea, I know, I'm a geek because I'm loving the media's attention on all this with most of them just guessing until they talk to people who study in this field :) I'll shut up now, sorry ^^

[sithrose]

Hehe. My favorite geology geek!

I probably should have phrased it as "worse for the short-term climate from the human perspective". Face it, another Year Without A Summer would definitely be a Bad Thing from a human perspective.

In the geologic long-term, it's fairly likely that none of it matters much another. :)

[mithras]

If I'm remembering what I read correctly, the last time an Icelandic volcano went up like this was in Ben Franklin's time.

It ultimately caused a hotter than normal summer (by a degree or three) in Europe, and then a significantly colder winter.

[georgechance]

The key is in the LONG run, in the short run...not so good :) So yes that odd statement from the reporter is a bit....off.