Would a large volcanic eruption remove the threat of global warming?

Question

Would a large volcanic eruption remove the threat of global warming?

Answer 1

I believe this is beyond the realm of human imagination. Scientist have done nothing but make matters worse on earth from the beginning.

Answer 2

If you mean large enough to cause prolonged winter, I suppose.

In reality, I don't possess the physics to really know!

Sorry. You be a thinker Big J.

Answer 3

lets just say an eruption like yellow stone would effect not only the U.S. but the entire world they people around it would surely die and others would die or be entombed by ash or pyroclastic flow so I guess that would end some of the worries about global warming out of some minds. But then again the last time Yellowstone erupted it caused a mini ice age so I don't know if that would remove it or make it greater. Honestly I think it depends on the volcano because there are different types that cause different eruptions. Such as ash or lava or even pyroclastic flows.

Answer 4

Would, but not for long. Probably in abut 2-3 years global warming would be back.  Especially since the pollution isnt getting much better..

Answer 5

A large eruption like Krakatoa would but only for a few years until the ash finally cleared from the atmosphere. A super volcano like Yellowstone would be a very different story. Think no agriculture for a few years.

Answer 6

No it would have no effect on the threat at all.

Answer 7

No.  It might offset global warming for a few years by sending particulates up into the atmosphere to block sunlight.  However, these particulates only stay in the atmosphere for a few years.  Volcanoes also emit CO2, which stays in the atmosphere for much longer, so in the long-term a large volcanic eruption would actually make global warming worse.

Answer 8

Volcanic eruptions can alter the climate of the earth for both short and long periods of time. For example, average global temperatures dropped about a degree Fahrenheit for about two years after the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991, and very cold temperatures caused crop failures and famine in North America and Europe for two years following the eruption of Tambora in 1815. Volcanologists believe that the balance of the earth's mild climate over periods of millions of years is maintained by ongoing volcanism. Volcanoes affect the climate through the gases and dust particles thrown into the atmosphere during eruptions. The effect of the volcanic gases and dust may warm or cool the earth's surface, depending on how sunlight interacts with the volcanic material.

Volcanic dust blasted into the atmosphere causes temporary cooling. The amount of cooling depends on the amount of dust put into the air, and the duration of the cooling depends on the size of the dust particles. Particles the size of sand grains fall out of the air in a matter of a few minutes and stay close to the volcano. These particles have little effect on the climate. Tiny dust-size ash particles thrown into the lower atmosphere will float around for hours or days, causing darkness and cooling directly beneath the ash cloud, but these particles are quickly washed out of the air by the abundant water and rain present in the lower atmosphere. However, dust tossed into the dry upper atmosphere, the stratosphere, can remain for weeks to months before they finally settle. These particles block sunlight and cause some cooling over large areas of the earth.

Volcanoes that release large amounts of sulfur compounds like sulfur oxide or sulfur dioxide affect the climate more strongly than those that eject just dust. The sulfur compounds are gases that rise easily into the stratosphere. Once there, they combine with the (limited) water available to form a haze of tiny droplets of sulfuric acid. These tiny droplets are very light in color and reflect a great deal of sunlight for their size. Although the droplets eventually grow large enough to fall to the earth, the stratosphere is so dry that it takes time, months or even years to happen. Consequently, reflective hazes of sulfur droplets can cause significant cooling of the earth for as long as two years after a major sulfur-bearing eruption. Sulfur hazes are believed to have been the primary cause of the global cooling that occurred after the Pinatubo and Tambora eruptions. For many months, a satellite tracked the sulfur cloud produced by Pinatubo.

Volcanoes also release large amounts of water and carbon dioxide. When these two compounds are in the form of gases in the atmosphere, they absorb heat radiation (infrared) emitted by the ground and hold it in the atmosphere. This causes the air below to get warmer. Therefore, you might think that a major eruption would cause a temporary warming of the atmosphere rather than a cooling. However, there are very large amounts of water and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere already, and even a large eruption doesn't change the global amounts very much. In addition, the water generally condenses out of the atmosphere as rain in a few hours to a few days, and the carbon dioxide quickly dissolves in the ocean or is absorbed by plants. Consequently, the sulfur compounds have a greater short-term effect, and cooling dominates. However, over long periods of time (thousands or millions of years), multiple eruptions of giant volcanoes, such as the flood basalt volcanoes, can raise the carbon dioxide levels enough to cause significant global warming.

Answer 9

That depends on how large.

A very large one would temporarily cool the earth for a few years via sulfates, but then the released CO2 would dominate, as apparently happened during the Permian-Triassic Extinction.

Answer 10

Yes, but we would die.

Answer 11

No.

It would reduce global warming's effects for a short time, but the dust settles out relatively fast.  CO2 stays there.

This graph shows the effects of volcanoes.  Short term and they don't bat in the same league for power.

http://www.globalwarmingart.com/wiki/Ima...

Answer 12

Volcanic eruptions are not infrequent, and in the affected area a cooling trend happens because of the dust.  After the dust settles, there is absolutely no long-lasting effect.  But global warming isn't real, so the threat is fictitous.