Can't believe this hasn't been posted up yet. I didn't even know about it till just now when my mum told me. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8621407.stm Volcano in Iceland has caused all UK airports to shutdown till atleast Friday.
Will 24 hours be long enough to notice the reversal of global dimming in the UK? 9/11's phase was 3 days and that showed remarkable differences.
The ash will create another effect, ash is reflective and will work as aerosols that reflect sunlight... edit: and prevent sunlight from hitting the surface of the planet.
Btw this is incorrect.. Arsenal are under investigation due to the recent dust in the atmosphere being cause due to a cleaner polishing the trophy cabinet.
It's grounded norwegian flights as well - a major inconvenience I'm sure, and our prime minister has been grounded in New York since the eruption. Making the papers every day with headlines such as: "runs the country via iPad and laptop from hotel room in New York". I just hope this doesn't mess up summer too much. After the winter we had I was hoping for a hot and sunny summer, but this just might screw it up and make it cold and wet instead. I for one still remember the effects following the '91 eruption of the Philippino volcano Pinatubo...
Just saw this on a friends facebook account. She was supposed to be flying [somewhere] yesterday and obviously can't now. It's gotta have created some massive havocat airports this week.
Saw on the news, the people all complaining to the airlines. WTF?! Aye fine you can go on the plane and see how far you get. Diddys. Least its reduced global warming slightly with the reduced emissions from planes and global cooling effect from the ash lol.
F*** em, it's probably not even a volcano anyway. They're probably just burning all the money they stole off us.
Yes, but IIRC it only lasts for up to 1-2 years, even after very large eruptions. The residence time of CO2 in the atmosphere is tens of years.
Depends on the source of the CO2. If the CO2 is released high into the atmosphere or even the stratosphere (eg by a plane) then it will stay there for a long time. However, CO2 sources from the ground and near CO2 sinks such as oceans, forests etc will find that the effect is actually quite minimal. CO2 isn't a powerful greenhouse gas compared to methane, VOCs or even water. The problem with CO2 is that its being produced in massive quantities by industry. I really don't think the CO2 released from the volcanic eruption will cause long term global warming compared to industry, aviation etc. The global cooling effect from it over the next few years will be quite noticeable though. You'll find on average that areas directly affected by the ash will drop by 1-2 degC and globally the temperature will drop by around 0.3 degC. Don't ask for sources as its been years since I did a disertation on the subject at uni. Though I can remember most of the key points.
Oh, compared to CO2 release from power stations, transportation etc. then it's just a drop in the ocean, so the only effect you'll actually see is the global cooling. But it's still there nonetheless, it's just that it's part of the natural carbon cycle, whereas we are not.
Surely the cooling effect is dependant on both the quantity and type of ash plume, not to mention its position in the atmospheric layers affecting its distribution?
