A powerful volcano is erupting. Here’s what that could mean for weather and climate | CNN (2024)

CNN

When Mount Ruang in Indonesia underwent multiple explosive eruptions last week, volcanic gases were flung so high they reached the atmosphere’s second layer, tens of thousands of feet above ground.

Ruang’s eruptions ejected a massive ash plume and sent some volcanic gases more than 65,000 feet into the air, according to satellite estimates – about 25,000 feet higher than a commercial airplane will typically fly.

The eruption’s potential impacts to weather and climate are starting to come into focus, even as the danger posed by the volcano persists and evacuations continue.

It’s possible for volcanoes to have a short-term impact on the climate – including global temperature cooling – due to the gases they inject high into the upper atmosphere. But Mount Ruang’s influence on the climate will likely be minimal, according to Greg Huey, the chair of Georgia Tech’s School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences.

And the day-to-day weather conditions near Mount Ruang – things like temperature, clouds and rain – probably won’t be influenced by the volcano for long, Huey told CNN.

Mount Ruang, a 2,400-foot (725-meter) stratovolcano on Ruang Island in Indonesia’s North Sulawesi province, has erupted at least seven times since Tuesday night, the country’svolcanology agency said. Stratovolcanoes can produce explosive eruptions because their cone shape allows gas to build up, according to volcanologists.

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Volcanic ash is typically a mixture of crushed-up solids – including rocks, minerals and glass – and gases, such as water vapor, carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide, according to NASA.

Crushed-up solids generate a lot of static electricity within ash plumes as they bash into each other, resulting in intense displays of lighting, according to Huey.

“The ash itself is short-lived in the atmosphere because it’s heavy, it’s big and it tends to settle out quickly,” Huey told CNN. It’s the gases that are able to reach much higher in the atmosphere.

Dense ash near the surface creates hazardous air quality and causes a temporary cooling effect as it blocks out warming sunlight. Once the active eruption stops, ash starts to settle.

But ash that reaches the ground can easily be lofted back into the air by breezy winds. Water droplets often cling to ash in the air and form storm clouds that can unload rain or produce additional lightning.

A powerful volcano is erupting. Here’s what that could mean for weather and climate | CNN (2)

Mount Ruang spewed lava and and ash on April 17, seen from Sitaro, North Sulawesi. It also triggered lightning in the ash cloud -- a common phenomenon in powerful volcano eruptions.

Some gases from Mount Ruang’s eruptions climbed so high they punched into the stratosphere, the second layer of Earth’s atmosphere. It’s located just above the troposphere, which is where all life and weather occur.

The stratosphere is a very dry place and typically only the gases with a long lifespan –spanning decades – filter up into it, according to Huey. A volcanic eruption is essentially the only natural way for short-lived – less than a few years – gases like sulfur dioxide and water vapor to make it into the stratosphere.

Once in the stratosphere, sulfur dioxide and water vapor combine to form sulfuric acid aerosols that create a layer of hazy droplets, according to UCAR. These droplets spread far from their point of entry and remain in the stratosphere for up to three years, reflecting sunlight back into space and causing global temperatures to cool.

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But the cooling effect lasts longer if more gas makes it into the stratosphere.

In 1991, Mount Pinatubo – another stratovolcano – erupted in the Philippines and produced the largest sulfur dioxide cloud ever measured. The eruption poured over 17 million tons of the gas into the atmosphere and led to a global temperature decrease of around 0.5 degrees Celsius (0.9 degrees Fahrenheit) that lasted about a year, according to the United States Geological Survey.

In comparison, satellite instruments have estimated Mount Ruang has released an around 300,000 tons of sulfur dioxide so far, though it’s unclear how much of that plume made it into the stratosphere. While that amount is quite massive in its own right, it falls well short of the most extreme case, according to Huey.

An eruption as large as Mount Pinatubo in 1991 could certainly cool the planet for a few years, though it wouldn’t be able to erase the Earth’s current climate woes caused by planet-warming pollution, and it would come at the cost of tremendous damage to life and property.

CNN’s Kathleen Magramo contributed to this report.

A powerful volcano is erupting. Here’s what that could mean for weather and climate | CNN (4)

Police officers sweep volcanic material accumulated on the ground, after eruptions of the Mount Ruang volcano in North Sulawesi, Indonesia, on April 19, 2024.

A powerful volcano is erupting. Here’s what that could mean for weather and climate | CNN (2024)

FAQs

How do volcanic eruptions affect weather and climate? ›

Injected ash falls rapidly from the stratosphere -- most of it is removed within several days to weeks -- and has little impact on climate change. But volcanic gases like sulfur dioxide can cause global cooling, while volcanic carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, has the potential to promote global warming.

What happens when a strong volcanic eruption occurs? ›

Volcanoes spew hot, dangerous gases, ash, lava, and rock that are powerfully destructive. People have died from volcanic blasts. Volcanic eruptions can result in additional threats to health, such as floods, mudslides, power outages, drinking water contamination, and wildfires.

What volcano erupted that changed the climate? ›

When Indonesia's Mount Tambora erupted in 1815, it unleashed the most destructive wave of extreme weather the world has witnessed in thousands of years. The volcano's massive sulfate dust cloud enveloped the Earth, cooling temperatures and disrupting major weather systems for more than three years.

What happens when a volcano erupts? ›

A volcano is a vent in the Earth's crust from which eruptions occur. There are about 1500 potentially active volcanoes worldwide. When volcanoes erupt they can spew hot, dangerous gases, ash, lava and rock that can cause disastrous loss of life and property, especially in heavily populated areas.

How do volcanic eruptions affect climate quizlet? ›

How does a volcanic eruption affect climate change? Ash blocks sunlight, causing temperatures to drop.

How can eruptions affect the environment and natural ecosystems? ›

Volcanic eruptions can result in complete destruction of ecosystems close to the volcano. Volcanic ash falls vary in their effects from total burial of ecosystems to negligible, depending on their depth. Volcanic gases can have a variety of toxic effects.

What are 2 good effects of volcanic eruption? ›

Volcanoes can provide people with many benefits such as: volcanic rock and ash provide fertile land which results in a higher crop yield for farmers. tourists are attracted to the volcano, which increases money to the local economy. geothermal energy can be harnessed, which provides free electricity for locals.

What are 4 good effects of volcanic eruption? ›

There are many positive effects of volcanoes including: Fertile soils, tourism, geothermal energy, creation of new land and building materials. Volcanic soils are very fertile. These rich soils are called laterite soils and are rich in minerals.

How do volcanoes affect the environment? ›

Volcanic ash and gases can sometimes reach the stratosphere, the upper layer in Earth's atmosphere. This volcanic debris can reflect incoming solar radiation and absorb outgoing land radiation, leading to a cooling of the Earth's temperature.

Did volcanic eruptions cause climate change? ›

Its analysis, which appears in the journal Earth-Science Reviews, shows that these eruptions released large amounts of carbon dioxide into the Earth's atmosphere, leading to extreme greenhouse climate warming and bringing about near-lethal or lethal conditions to our planet.

Can volcanic eruptions cause climate? ›

The gases and dust particles thrown into the atmosphere during large volcanic eruptions can influence climate. Particles spewed from volcanoes, like dust and ash, can cause temporary cooling by shading incoming solar radiation if the particles were launched high enough into the atmosphere.

Is volcanic eruption an effect of climate change? ›

But research suggests that our changing climate may not solely influence hazards at the Earth's surface. Climate change – and specifically rising rainfall rates and glacial melting – could also exacerbate dangers beneath the Earth's surface, such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

What was the worst volcanic eruption in history? ›

Tambora

What kills when a volcano erupts? ›

Pyroclastic flows are the most deadly of all volcanic hazards and are produced as a result of certain explosive eruptions; they normally touch the ground and hurtle downhill or spread laterally under gravity. Their speed depends upon the density of the current, the volcanic output rate, and the gradient of the slope.

Can volcanoes erupt underwater? ›

Most seafloor spreading centers lie at depths exceeding 2,000 meters (1.2, miles) and, as a consequence, approximately three-quarters of all volcanic activity on Earth occurs as deep, underwater eruptions. The effects of these deep eruptions cannot be seen from the surface of the ocean.

How does a volcanic eruption affect precipitation? ›

Previous studies have found that global land precipitation is decreased after explosive volcanic eruptions, especially over global summer monsoon regions. However, detailed changes in daily precipitation distributions and related physical mechanisms remain unclear.

How do volcanoes affect the air? ›

Locally, sulfur dioxide gas can lead to acid rain and air pollution downwind from a volcano. These gases can come from lava flows as well as a volcano that erupts violently. Volcanic ash can travel hundreds to thousands of miles downwind from a volcano.

How do volcanic eruptions affect the earth's spheres? ›

Volcanoes (events in the geosphere) may release a substantial amount of hot lava (geosphere), which causes mountain glaciers (hydrosphere) to melt. Mudflows (geosphere) and flooding may occur downstream from volcanoes and may inundate streamside communities (biosphere).

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