loads of people at my school won't be in next week becasue of this, becasue people went away on holiday and now stuck. The only way back to school is via boat which is ok for some who are in Europe, but not ok if you live in china as quite a few students do, which mean the top set maths group is going to be one person, poor guy be interesting to see what happens when i get back on tuesday
Eruption plumes are usually pretty predictable and their height is mostly dictated by the size/intensity of the eruption (Iceland has pretty gentle volcanoes so they won't produce very high eruption columns). Once it reaches a level of neutral buoyancy in the atmosphere it spreads out laterally in whatever direction the wind takes it. That said, I'm not really sure of what effect the height of the ash cloud in the atmosphere has on the impact of global cooling. I would have thought that incoming solar radiation would be reflected regardless of height, so the area of the ash cloud would be the more important factor. Though I suppose lower clouds are more likely to be rained out quicker.
We're due for colder winters in any case, in Europe at least, as solar activity is having somewhat of a lull period.
Yeah, it's part of the natural 11-year solar variability/sunspot activity cycle, but the lull we're in at the moment is lasting longer than it usually does.
We have volcanoes in US too. I live close to the base of Mt. Rainer and there was this other one St. Helen. St. Helen was pretty nasty to the environment hereabouts. The Icelandic volcano doesn't appear to be letting up yet. john
Yeah thats basically what I'm getting at. The global warming from the volcano will still be there but its pretty insignificant compared to other sources of global warming. When you look at the thermodynamics of it, it can be simplified to heat = length of time x change in temperature. The global cooling effect would be something like heat = 2-3 years x -3 degC. The global heating effect would be something like heat = 10 years x 0.1 degC. Overall you can see the cooling effect will give a number around 9 times larger than the heating effect from the CO2. Disclaimer: these numbers are approximations to give an order of magnitude impression and are by no means an accurate calculation using correct units, heat capacity factors and other variables.
I heard he managed to outrun a pyroclastic flow by riding an oversized tea tray down the mountain. He truly is the real-life MacGyver.
He was then able to divert it around nearby town using nothing more than a teaspoon, a plastic cup and some dental floss.
I also heard he could stop a speeding train and leap tall building's when he had his red cape and pants on
Some awesome pictures for your delectation: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/04/more_from_eyjafjallajokull.html
The volcano with the tricky name had another eruption tonight which has sent a new ash plume heading towards continental Europe. However, while Eiafjallsjökul (or something to that effect) might not be all that bad, what we should worry about is whether or not Katla will erupt as a consequence. Apparently Katla has followed Eijafjallsjökul's eruptions in three out of four cases. It's interesting times, and I'm expecting spectacular imagery if indeed it does go bonkers. Of course nothing would compare to an eruption at Yellowstone, but let's not worry about that one just yet eh?
