Factors of Climate
VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS
What does it control?
What are the effects when it changes?
Can Humans alter this factor or process? If so, how?
- TEMPERATURE 🔺 COOLING
- When volcanoes erupt, they release a mixture of gases and particles into the air. Some of them, for example, sulphur dioxide and ash, have a cooling effect because they (or the substances they cause) reflect sunlight distant from the earth. Others such as CO2, cause warming by adding to the greenhouse effect.
What are the effects when it changes?
- Increase of ASH in the atmosphere creates more clouds = cooling effect
- Freezing = lowers sea levels
- Living Organisms -alter living conditions
- Ocean currents upwelling, drought or flooding
- Surface albedo- could change making more dark or light
- Volcanic eruptions have affected the climate in the past.- “ Mount Pinatubo in 1991, caused a significant dip in global temperatures in the following year or two.”- www.theguardian.com
Can Humans alter this factor or process? If so, how?
- NO, Volcanoes cannot be influenced by humans.