What is the relationship between volcanoes and climate change?

Most studies indicate that the effect of volcanic explosions on the greenhouse is small, and it varies according to the type of explosion, its duration and the nature of the materials that these explosions release.

According to the American Geological Survey, volcanic activity generates between 130 million tons and 440 million tons of carbon dioxide annually, which is a small amount compared to what various human activities generate.

Human activity generates about 35 billion tons of carbon dioxide annually, or 80 times from the upper limit of estimates for volcanic activity, and 270 times the minimum estimates.

It is only related to carbon dioxide, because human activity releases other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere – such as methane – in much larger quantities than those launched by volcanoes.

The largest volcanic eruption in the 20th century was the eruption of Mount “Boatopo” in the Philippines in 1991, and if an explosion of this size occurred every day – according to NASA accounts – it will launch half of the amount of carbon dioxide launched by daily human activity.

Volcanoes have a short -term cooling effect when strong volcanoes release sulfur dioxide (S or 2) emissions to the atmosphere such as Berkan “Boatopo” in 1991 or “Crakatoa” in Indonesia in 1883.

Large quantities of sulfur dioxide are also released to the “stratosphere” (the upper layer of the atmosphere), so this gas interacts with water to form the so -called sulfate dusty that reflects the sunlight, which leads to a temporary cooling of the surface of the earth, and this effect may continue from months to a few years.

For example, the eruption of Mount “Tibetopo” in the Philippines is a decrease in the average global temperature by about 0.5 degrees for two years.

As for the level of long -term effect (on potential warming), the emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) that volcanoes release is small compared to human emissions resulting from burning fossil fuels, and thus its effect is weak.

Even volcanic cooling is temporary, and the effect of warming resulting from human activities is not equivalent to as it is continuous and escalating due to the accumulation of greenhouse gases (such as carbon dioxide and methane) in much more than what is launched by volcanoes.

In certain geological periods, enormous and extended volcanic activities such as “basal terraces” explosions (such as those that have formed “decrees” in India) may contribute to the high rates of carbon dioxide over thousands of years, which may contribute to long -term warming, but there is no evidence that volcanic activity has increased over the past 200 years.

There are other effects of volcanoes, among them the escalation of volcanic ash that may temporarily block sunlight, but it is deposited quickly and does not affect the climate globally, but the volcanic bangs have interactions with ozone, as “sulfur hybrids” can contribute to the influence of the ozone layer in the polar areas.

In its 2013 report, the International Government Authority on Climate Change found that the climatic effects of volcanic activity were “important” on a century.

In general, volcanoes affect the climate via temporary cooling resulting from sulfur emissions, while their effect on global warming is small compared to human activities, yet the study of volcanoes remains important to understand natural climate fluctuations and their effects on the ecosystem.