Global Warming?

Question

My roommate told me that there is a type of pollution that is actually good for the atmosphere? According to him this comes from volcano's and may be able to help protect us from global warming. What type of pollution might my roommate be referring too?

Answer 1

What he may be referring to is the fact that an increase in temperature can actually be a sign of a coming ice age. The reason for that is that increases in temperature can disrupt the flow of the gulf stream and other currents which control our climate. By disrupting this, it influences loocal and regional climate change which in turn influences global climate change. I wouldnt go so far as to say that something "helps" protect us from global warming, but I would say that it is such a complex issue that the effect of these gasses cannot be assumed from a short period of data.

Answer 2

As usual on Yahoo, these answers are clueless.

Probably what your friend is referring to is the phenomenon called "Global Dimming". There actually was a NOVA program about this about a year ago, so you might be able to get that at your local library and check it out.

The way it works is like this.... global warming occurs because the gases in the atmosphere that hold in heat are increasing, causing an increase in the temperature of the earth. But the earth has not warmed up as fast as scientists predicted, so being scientists, they wanted to find out why their predictions were off. What has been learned is that when we burn fossil fuels, particularly coal, we send a lot of small smoke or soot paticles into the air. THese particles alter the way clouds are formed. Because of the alterations of the clouds and because of other causes such as the contrails of jets in the stratosphere, the amount of sunlight which is reflected from the clouds is increased and less sunlight is reaching the earth. The warming effect ofthe greenhouse gases is being cancelled out by the cooling effect which comes from the air pollution altering the clouds.

So, what do you want, allow air pollution that kills millions every year from respiratory disease but cools the planet, or clean up air pollution and allow global warming to proceed more quickly, possibly interfering with agriculture and causing catastrophic storms and sea level rise.

Have a nice day.

Answer 3

Not sure what your friend is referring to. I can think of nothing in the gases or chemicals from an erupting volcano that would not be harmful. However, the land around volcanoes tends to be highly rich and ideal for plant growth. A lot of the bad chemicals from volcanoes can be collected and put to good use like sulphur.

Chemicals and gases can be good in one place and bad in another. Ozone is good in the upper atmosphere but very bad on the earth's surface where it combines with pollutants to form smog and even on it's own can cause respiratory problems.

Answer 4

If volcanic ash and particulate matter is ejected in large quantities from a volcano, and it reaches the upper atmosphere, it can produce a temporary 'global cooling' phenomenon, as it partially blocks sunlight from reaching the earth. The effect can last anywhere from a few weeks to about a year or so.

Answer 5

He's probably referring to carbon dioxide. CO2, water , and light are taken in by plants as part of the photosynthesis process. The "waste product" is oxygen which, of course, is good for the atmosphere. CO2 comes from a number of sources including volcanos and the burning of fossil fuels.

Answer 6

Never heard of that one. Pollution is pollution, period. Volcanic ashes and gases are pollutants and cause global warming.
Maybe your friend is vying for a Nobel Prize. HA !

Answer 7

there is really no such thing harmful gases such as carbon monoxides erupt from volcanos and they are really harmful to the atmosphere and the enviroment

Answer 8

Please see the webpage for more details on Global warming.