Althouse: The Sarychev Peak volcano, messing with the clouds.

June 25, 2009

The Sarychev Peak volcano, messing with the clouds.

Snapped from the International Space Station.

12 comments:

Hoosier Daddy said...: I wonder if AlGore has any ideas how to get Mother Earth to stop spewing all that carbon into the air? Bitch oughta know it's not helping her fever.; 6/25/09, 1:21 PM
MadisonMan said...: Many eruptions cool the atmosphere because of the aerosols they spew into the upper atmosphere. Aerosols that then reflect incoming light back out into space. The Pinatubo eruption was a famous cooler.

Love that image, from the compensating subsidence around the plume that's clearing clouds to the cap cloud at the top of the plume.; 6/25/09, 1:32 PM
Ironclad said...: Volcano eruptions cool the planet mainly due to the sulfur dioxide and particles that are blown into the upper atmosphere. A large eruption can cause a measurable drop all over the world. Krakatoa both affected the weather and caused brilliant red sunsets for almost a year after the eruption.

The global warming crowd will not be impressed.; 6/25/09, 1:45 PM
Cedarford said...: Awesome picture! The white center at the top of the mushroom, with plumes of ash coming out on 4 sides is the volcanic steam and moisure-laden lower atmosphere brought up into the cold stratosphere condensing out.

Cloud cover parted by heat and shockwaves from the eruption. In other photos, they captured the complete pyroclastic ground flow of 1,100 DEG ash spreading out 4,000 feet.; 6/25/09, 1:53 PM
Hoosier Daddy said...: Well I stand corrected. Volcano eruptions don't cause global warming but actually cool the planet.

So it would seem Mother Earth has a self correcting way of dealing with climate change.; 6/25/09, 2:04 PM
The Drill SGT said...: Just got back from Yellowstone. The whole park is a huge caldera, 40 miles across. Went off 2.1 million years ago,then 1.4 million, then 700,000. It's due next week (on the geologic scale).

each time it goes off, it covers half the country with ash. as in 12 inches at a distance of 1,000 miles.

for context, the older blast produced an ash volume 2,500 times Mt St Helens.

That will cool the planet and the economy down more than a bit.; 6/25/09, 2:11 PM
bearbee said...: Chocolate fudge ice cream on a ball of cotton candy.

Or is that fungus?; 6/25/09, 2:56 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Bearbee I was thinking the same thing.

It's grannies chocolate ice cream from 1992.; 6/25/09, 3:20 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Are we going to need a Volcano Czar?; 6/25/09, 3:28 PM
Tibore said...: Now that is a cool picture. Space geeks can totally grok on imagery like that.; 6/25/09, 4:51 PM
Anonymous said...: I wonder if Sarah Palin saw it.; 6/25/09, 5:47 PM
TMink said...: Guess what? The earth has a fever. And the only perscription is . . . more cowbell.

Trey; 6/25/09, 6:01 PM