Dear Mr. Skilling,
Could a volcanic eruption alter the world’s climate?
William Bosserman, Fairview, N.C.
Dear William,
It has happened and it will undoubtedly happen again. Sulfur-rich gases blasted into the atmosphere by volcanoes form aerosols that effectively block sunlight, thereby lowering worldwide temperatures for several years. Only a massive eruption can accomplish that, but a spectacular “recent” example was the colossal eruption of Sumatra’s Mount Toba 74 thousand years ago.
Geologist Dr. Michael Rampino of NYU says, “The Toba eruption was enormous. WeM-9re talking about 3,000 cubic kilometers of material coming out of that volcano. ThatM-9s 10 thousand times the size of the 1980 Mt. St. Helens eruption.” Temperatures fell 5-9 (degrees) F and the planet lapsed into a brief ice age.
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Tom Skilling is chief meteorologist at WGN-TV. His forecasts can be seen Monday through Friday on WGN-TV News at noon and 9 p.m.
WGN-TV meteorologists Steve Kahn, Richard Koeneman and Paul Dailey plus weather producer Bill Snyder contribute to this page.
