Summer’s Sphere Report Atmosphere & Mt. Pinatubo 1. Aircraft Encounters with Ash E>A>B The intense eruptions of Mt. Pinatubo on June 11th, 1991 caused many disastrous effects to aircrafts and their flight paths. The volcano injected tremendously large amounts of ash upwards of 10,000 feet into the atmosphere. The June 15th eruption produced the largest ash cloud; it was carried by the upper levels winds to the west and circled the globe in twenty two days. According to the United States Geologic Service, “the June 15 cloud spread laterally to cover a broad equatorial band from about 10 degrees south to 20 degrees north latitude and contaminated some of the world's busiest air traffic corridors.” Between June 12th and 18th, there were sixteen in-flight encounters with ash that spewed from the volcano. There were reportedly more than two dozen airplanes on the ground in surrounding areas that were also physical damaged by the volcanic ash. References: Casadevalla, T.J., Delos Reyes, P.J., & Schneider, D. J. The 1991 Pinatubo Eruptions and Their Effects on Aircraft Operations. Retrieved from: http://pubs.usgs.gov/pinatubo/casa/index.html http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/Philippines/Pinatubo/Publications/FireMud/CasadevallOthe rs/framework.html 2. Greenhouse Gasses and the Haze Effect E>A Volcanic eruptions like the June 15th, 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo can enhance global warming by adding carbon dioxide into the atmosphere although a far greater amount of carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere by human activities. The small amount of global warming caused by greenhouse gases sent out during a volcanic eruption is often offset by the haze effect. Haze is particles of dust, volcanic ash or salt that are roughly 0.1 microns large that are suspended in the atmosphere. The haze effect happens when particles like ash and dust are suspended in the atmosphere and block out the sun light trying to reach Earth. Because there is less solar radiation reaching Earth’s surface, the global temperature drops. The effect often gives way to amazingly red sunsets that is due to particles in the stratosphere and upper troposphere scattering the color red in the light spectrum. References: http://www.geology.sdsu.edu/how_volcanoes_work/climate_effects.html http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/257938/haze http://www.geology.sdsu.edu/how_volcanoes_work/climate_effects.html 3. Global Climate Change and Arctic Oscillation E>A>H>B Global temperature can drop by several degrees Fahrenheit when sulfur dioxide emitted from the eruption combines with water vapor in the stratosphere. According to Rosenberg, Mt. Pinatubo ejected somewhere between 25 and 30 million tons of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere and stratosphere more specifically. In the stratosphere they form minute sulfuric acid droplets that can lower temperatures in the troposphere because the actually can absorb the radiation coming from the sun and scatter it back into space. According to NASA, the 1991 eruption of the Mount Pinatubo contributed to a strengthening of a climate pattern called the Arctic Oscillation; this is a natural pattern of circulation of air where the atmospheric pressure at the middle and polar latitudes change. It thus brings lower than normal pressure to areas of the world with roughly a forty-five degree north latitude and a higher than normal pressure at the Polar Regions. For two years following the volcanic eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in 1991, the entire planet cooled 0.4 to 0.8C. The largest cooling in North America came in the summer of 1992. The ice on the Hudson Bay melted a month later than normal, thus allowing time for the polar bears to feed and nurse their cubs. These polar bears were called the “Pinatubo Bears” and were a lot heavier and healthier than the polar bears born in years before and after. References: Biello, D. (January 2008). Scientific Nature: Researchers Use Volcanic Eruption as Climate Lab. Scientific America. Retrieved from: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=scientificnature-researc Holasek, R.E., King, A.J., Self, S., Torres, R.C., & Zhao, J. The Atmospheric Impact of the 1991 Mount Pinatubo Eruption. Retrieved from: http://pubs.usgs.gov/pinatubo/self/index.html Myers. (1997). What are Volcano Hazards?: USGS Fact Sheet 002-97. Retrieved from: http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Glossary/VolcWeather/description_volcanoes_and_weather.html Robock, A. Introduction: Mount Pinatubo as a Test of Climate Feedback Mechanisms. Retrieved from: http://climate.envsci.rutgers.edu/pdf/VEAChapter1_Robocknew.pdf Rosenberg, M. (August 2007). Mount Pinatubo Eruption: The Volcanic Mount Pinatubo Eruption of 1991 that Cooled the Planet. Retrieved from: http://geography.about.com/od/globalproblemsandissues/a/pinatubo.htm Wolfe, J. (September 2000). Volcanoes and Climate Change. Earth Observatory. Retrieved from: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/Volcano/ (April 2009). Greenhouse Gases Continue to Climb Despite Economic Slump, Carbon Dioxide, Methane Increased in 2008. Retrieved from: http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2009/20090421_carbon.html http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/7y.html http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazard/stratoguide/img/aerosol.gif http://www.innovations-report.de/html/berichte/geowissenschaften/bericht-17078.html http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2006/2005JD006286.shtml 4. Gas Formation E>A>L>B Magma from volcanoes contains dissolved gasses that can either be released into the atmosphere during eruptions or released while the magma is still underground or rising to the surface. Deep within Earth’s surface, volcanic gasses are dissolved in molten rock. When magma starts to rise to Earth surface, small gas bubbles form and expand. Once they reach the surface the bubbles increase in number and size. Throughout a volcanoes life, gasses may be released into the atmosphere from the soil, hydrothermal systems, and volcanic vents and from fumaroles. Fumaroles are vents where volcanic gas can escape and they can be located in tine cracks, long fissures and even on the surface of lava flows. According to Myers, ninety prevent of all gas emitted by volcanoes is water vapor which comes from heated ground water from either rain fall or streams. Volcanic gasses can rise many miles into earth’s atmosphere and be blown all the way around the world. Besides for water vapor, volcanic gas contains other natural elements like hydrogen, sulfur, fluorine, chlorine, hydrogen and compounds like carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide. In high concentrations fluorine or F, can soak into ash particles that later fall onto the lithosphere. These particles can soak into the Earth’s water s supplies and not only harm the vegetation but also the organisms that feed upon it. To humans it can cause skin irritation, conjunctivitis, degeneration of the bone and the rotting of teeth. Excess fluorine results in a significant cause of death and injury in livestock during ash eruptions. Sulfur dioxide or SO2 can also cause harm to vegetation because it corrodes the lithosphere by combining with water in the atmosphere, thus forming acid rain. The eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in 1991 released 3-5 km 3 of dacite magma and expelled roughly 17 million tons of sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere. Carbon dioxide or CO2 is also a volcanic gas, it is heavier than air and when it accumulates in low areas in high concentrations it can be deadly to most organisms. It is extremely imperative to avoid small depressions and low areas because they can trap carbon dioxide. The boundary between the lethal carbon dioxide and healthy air is very rigid, sadly even a single step either way may be the difference between living and dying. Even though volcanic gas is comprised of a lot of carbon dioxide (it gives off about 110 million tons per year) it is not abundant enough to play any part in the greenhouse effect that humans are contributing to (roughly about 10 billion tons per years). Figure 7y-6: The following satellite image shows the distribution of Mount Pinatubo's sulfur dioxide and dust aerosol plume (red and yellow areas) between June 14 and July 26, 1991. References: Doukas, M.P., Gerlach, T.M., Kessler, R. & McGee, K.A. (May 2009). Impacts of Volcanic Gases on Climate, the Environment, and People. U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 97262. Retrieved from: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1997/of97-262/of97-262.html Myer. ( 1997). What are Volcano Hazards?: USGS Fact Sheet 002-97. Retrieved from: http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Glossary/VolcWeather/description_volcanoes_and_weather.html http://volcano-pictures.info/glossary/fumarole.html http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hazards/gas/index.php http://volcanology.geol.ucsb.edu/gas.htm http://www.sciencemaster.com/jump/earth/gases.php 5. Vog E>A>B Volcanic smog or vog, forms when sulfur dioxide found in magma reacts with atmospheric moisture. You cans see it in the air as haze around a volcano and is caused by combination of wind, weather and volcanic activity. Vog can cause severe respiratory problems, headaches, sore throats and watery eyes. References: Heliker. (1997). Living on Active Volcanoes -- The Island of Hawai'i: USGS Fact Sheet 074-97. Retrieved from: http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Glossary/VolcWeather/description_volcanoes_and_weather.html http://hawaii.gov/gov/vog 6. Ozone and Sulfuric Acid E>A During the one and a half years after the eruption of Mt Pinatubo in 1991, the levels in ozone in the stratosphere decreased. Ozone or O3 is an inorganic molecule found in the atmosphere and is produced when extreme sunlight in the stratosphere specifically breaks down oxygen molecules or on into two extremely and highly reactive atoms of oxygen, or O. The O2 (oxygen) molecules and the O (oxygen) atoms bond to form ozone. The stratosphere is the outer region of Earths atmosphere that extends 7 to 25 miles above the Earth’s surface. The outermost region of the stratosphere contains the ozone layer. The levels in ozone dropped after the 1991 Mt. Pinatubo eruption because of the reaction between the volcanoes release of the gas sulfur dioxide and the ozone. The first major injection of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere was on June 30, 1991. References: http://www.geology.sdsu.edu/how_volcanoes_work/climate_effects.html http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/stories/pinatubo_20010618/images.html