When I read about all the trouble Europe was having with ash from Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano, I recalled the impact Mount Pinatubo had on the global temperatures and wondered if this volcano would have similar effects.
Experts say no:
The impact of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano is likely to be “virtually non-existent” on the global climate because the eruption is too small and gases are not penetrating the upper atmosphere, Blair Trewin, a senior climatologist at Australia’s National Climate Centre in Melbourne, said in an interview.
“In its current form, we wouldn’t expect the eruption to have any significant global climate effects,” Trewin said today by telephone. “In terms of how much material was being put up into the atmosphere, Pinatubo was several hundred times larger than this has been so far.”
and:
The Pinatubo eruption, which killed as many as 800 people and left 100,000 homeless, had a greater impact on the environment because it lay close to the equator, Trewin said. Air flows in the upper atmosphere from the equator to the poles, meaning Pinatubo’s gases spread over the whole globe, he said.
That wouldn’t be the case with Iceland because of its northern latitude, he said.
The ash is moving around Europe, though. The Astute Bloggers have a great graphic, which I stole from them, that shows the spread of the ash:
There’s another graphic there, similar to this one. You should go over and check them out. They have a great blog.
While one eruption may not have an impact on world temperatures, what about two? Historically, when this volcano blows, its sister Hekla wakes up shortly after. It’s rumbling now.
