2007-12-03 05:34:04 · 11 answers · asked by Steven W 1 in Environment ➔ Global Warming
No - Some are so ingrained to the idea of global warming they would still believe even if Canada were under a 10 mile thick ice sheet.
2007-12-03 05:37:05 · answer #1 · answered by Dr Jello 7 · 2⤊ 4⤋
Only temporarily.
When a large volcano erupts, it can dump material (sulfur dioxide and ash) into the atmosphere, where they serve to block solar energy and thus, cool the earth slightly.
http://www.atmos.umd.edu/~owen/CHPI/IMAGES/volceff.html
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/Volcano/
The primary agent of cooling is sulfur dioxide, which can stay in aerosol for months, even years after a major eruption. However, it's effect is also to destroy ozone while it's up there, and again, the effect is not lasting. So after the "dust" settles, the ozone layer is depleted relative to before the eruption, and any greenhouse gases that were there before are presumably still there.
There's some evidence that a supervolcano eruption has, in the past, caused massive changes in the Earth's ecosystem, releasing enough ash and sulfur dioxide to have a profound long-term effect on the climate. One such eruption was at Toba, about 73,500 years ago.
http://tobavolcano.googlepages.com
There are only a very few places on Earth with the right conditions for a supervolcano... one is Yellowstone Park, here in the USA. Anyway, that's what you would need for a volcanic eruption to have any significant effect on global warming.
2007-12-03 05:51:47 · answer #2 · answered by Hazydave 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
The eruption has to be powerful enough to blast at least 1 million tons of SO2 into the stratosphere to have a noticeable effect on climate. The Mt. Kasatochi eruption last August put somewhere around 1 million tons in the stratosphere, and could have theoretically caused some of the chill the northern hemisphere is experiencing. But sometimes volcanoes in the Northern Hemisphere can actually cause warming by trapping short wave length IR because of the Sun's angle striking the Earth at those latitudes. The SO2 really needs to be closer to the equator to be effective at cooling the globe.
2016-05-28 00:17:17 · answer #3 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A massive eruption, something along the lines of Krakatoa in 1883 might have a temporary effect.
A layer of dust and ash in the upper atmosphere might block enough sunlight that the poles will start to build ice pack again. If you get enough ice, sunlight will reflect back out, which would have a cooling effect.
A really huge eruption, such as the one believed to potentially exist under Yellowstone NP - could certainly slow it down considerably.
2007-12-03 05:46:39 · answer #4 · answered by Fester Frump 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
They are indeed are a factor of global warming. The ash cloud that comes out the top when they erupt is full of chemicals that add to global warming.
Good Question
2007-12-05 17:46:14 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
A major eruption could temporarily put enough dust in the atmosphere to cool the planet for a few seasons by blocking more solar radiation than normal.
However, the atmosphere has a way of cleaning itself of dust, and within a couple years we'll be back to the same old problems.
2007-12-03 05:37:42 · answer #6 · answered by Morey000 7 · 3⤊ 1⤋
No, they don't.
In the short-term volcanoes cause global cooling by spewing out particulates that block sunlight, but they don't stay in the atmosphere for very long. Volcanoes emit CO2 and thus contribute to global warming, but in the long-term those emissions are swamped by human CO2 emissions.
"Present-day carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from subaerial and submarine volcanoes are uncertain at the present time. Gerlach (1991) estimated a total global release of 3-4 x 10E12 mol/yr from volcanoes. This is a conservative estimate. Man-made (anthropogenic) CO2 emissions overwhelm this estimate by at least 150 times."
2007-12-03 05:45:48 · answer #7 · answered by Dana1981 7 · 2⤊ 3⤋
1. No, it may have localize effects..
2. As volcano constitutes a very, very small portion of heat energy, etc released in the atmosphere
2007-12-03 05:45:12 · answer #8 · answered by wyne 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Not significantly. The dust thrown into the air will provide some very short term cooling. But they're not important in the long run.
Tons of information about it on this page:
http://www.geology.sdsu.edu/how_volcanoes_work/climate_effects.html
"CLIMATE EFFECTS OF VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS"
2007-12-03 05:46:32 · answer #9 · answered by Bob 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
There will likely be a short-term spike in CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere.
2007-12-03 05:46:02 · answer #10 · answered by kusheng 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋