How Do Volcanoes Affect The Climate?

One of the biggest tectonic events that has an effect on the earth climate is volcanic activity.

The Earth has been experiencing a considerable amount of climate change for the last several decades. Natural factors that contribute to the climate system consist of: solar output, volcanic activity and earth’s orbit around the sun. The two factors relevant on timescales of contemporary climate exist in volcanic activity and changes in solar radiation. The earth’s energy balance primarily influences the amount of incoming energy from volcanic eruptions, which have a relatively short-term effect on climate. Changes in solar output have contributed greatly to climate trends over the past century. The effect of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has been at least ten times that of changes in the Sun’s output and the ocean covers more than 70 percent of the earth’s surface, receiving twice the amount of earth’s radiation. Although the sun is the engine that drives all the weather, oceans and atmosphere control the sun 's energy along certain

Volcanic eruptions not only give burning lava to the environment but the eruptions also release sulfur into the air (Mattox). This may sound familiar as coal burning power plants

The human race all around the world wonders if the climate is changing due to human activity or if it is just a natural occurrence. At certain parts of the Earth's surface, the climate can be observed much differently than other locations. As the years go by the average temperature of the Earth increases by little intervals. There are several different reasons why people believe the climate is changing every year. However, the increase of worldwide population and production of heat to the atmosphere is due to the increase of human activities that take place on a daily basis. Human activity is the main cause of the global climate change. The human impact on climate exceeds any known changes due to natural processes. The impact of this human activity is often misunderstood when looking at climate change.

on, there are other, natural forcings that have effects on the global climate. A few of these

In the article “The volcano-climate connection” by Jack Williams the author states “Scientists now know that these volcanoes, especially Tambora- the largest volcanic eruption of the last 10000 years- had spewed large amounts of sulfur dioxide into the air, which combined with water vapor to create a sulfuric acid mist of tiny particles that blocked up to 1or 2 percent of the solar energy that normally reaches the earth for months following the eruption.” The sulfuric acid mix that entered the air reflected some of the sunlight back into the atmosphere which caused unusually low temperatures in some parts of the world. The change in global weather patterns also had a large effect on agriculture causing

Climate change can be defined as a significant change in the “average weather” of any given region sustained in the long-term and can be caused by Earth 's dynamic processes, external forces including variations in sunlight intensity, and also by human activities (USEPA, 2014).

    A study was regulated by the USGS in regards to the large catches of mackerel by fishermen, a volcano eruption at Indonesia’s Mt. Tambora and climate change. The article explains that the eruption that occurred at Mt. Tambora over 200 years ago and the effects that it left at the Gulf of Maine that intertwined human-natural systems facing climate change. The study showed that the eruption in 1815 caused a long lasting extreme climate event in 1816 (which is also known as the year without a summer) that caused the Northern Hemisphere’s crops to fail.

How will the rise in warmer temperatures and other atmospheric changes affect volcanoes and their sensitivity to erupting? How much more significant will the effects of these eruptions be in the future?

There are many variables within the climate change equation that must be taken into account to determine what is truly causing the climate change. Yet, recently, it has been observed that in years following a volcanic eruption the global temperature has been a couple of degrees cooler, and there has been increased precipitation. "The amount and global extent of cooling depend on the force of the eruption, the amount of particular gases emitted, and, perhaps, on the location of the volcano with respect to the world's global atmospheric circulation patterns." (NASA Homepage) The argument that volcanic eruptions cause the climate change is as follows: volcanic eruptions eject sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere, and the resulting stratospheric aerosols change the short and long wave radiation budget of the atmosphere. This causes a chain reaction in which the stratosphere cools off. (Welcome to MTU Geology Department) The diagrams below illustrate the many variables involved in a volcanic eruption.

The main effect on weather right near a volcano is that there is often a lot of rain, lightning, and thunder during an active volcano that is eject lava, ash, and gases. This is because all the ash particles that are thrown up into the atmosphere are good at attracting/collecting water droplets. The particles moving through the air and separating positively and negatively charged particles.

The planet has been experiencing considerable climate change for the last several decades. There have been many explanations toward the main causes of the increased warming of the planet. On one hand are the environmentalists who believe that the major cause of this increased warming of the planet is the increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere induced by human activities. On the other hand, the scientists believe that there are natural causes of global climate change. While the supporters of the man-made theory of global climate change reason that the major greenhouse gas causing global warming is carbon dioxide, the advocates of natural causes

The second main “driver” of global temperature change is reflectivity. Changes in reflectivity affect how much energy enter Earth’s system. When the sunlight reaches Earth, it can be reflected or absorbed, and that depends on the Earth’s surface and atmosphere; light colors reflect the most sunlight, while dark colors absorb more sunlight. Albedo, the amount of solar radiation reflected from an object or surface, indicates the amount of sunlight reflected as a percentage. Earth has an albedo of about 30%, which means that 70% of the sunlight is absorbed (NRC, 2010). This is important because the sunlight absorbed warms the land, water and atmosphere. In the past, this can be seen in the melting of sea ice or increases in cloud cover.

The earth’s climate is predicted to change because human activities are altering the chemical composition of the atmosphere through the buildup of greenhouse gases –– primarily carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. The heat-trapping property of these gases is undisputed. Although uncertainty exists about exactly how earth’’s climate responds to these gases, global temperatures are rising. Go to the Emissions section for much more on greenhouse gases.

Earth's climate is always changing. Many factors can contribute to the cause of changes in Earth's energy. Some changes in climate change are natural. It includes changes in Earth's orbit and the amount of energy coming from the sun. Also, ocean changes and volcanic eruptions are natural causes of climate change.