Humanity emits more carbon into the atmosphere than all volcanoes on Earth
American scientists have estimated the impact of volcanoes on the planet's climate. The study showed that they currently emit less greenhouse gases than humanity, according to the Deep Carbon Observatory (DCO) project website.
Volcanoes are considered one of the main climate regulators. They can contribute to both warming, since they emit carbon accumulated in the depths of the atmosphere, and cooling – particles of their ash block the sun's rays and prevent them from reaching the ground.
The eruption of the Toba volcano about 70 thousand years ago caused a volcanic winter, which almost led to the extinction of mankind. The catastrophic consequences entailed volcanic eruptions in South America and the Tambor volcano in 1815 – a sharp cold snap, crop failures, famine.
Scientists have previously found that the planet's largest reservoir of carbon is its core. It contains trillions of billions of tons, of which only 280-360 million are released into the atmosphere annually. This is much less than the amount of human emissions. About the same amount of greenhouse gases is returned to the bowels of the Earth due to geological processes.
Scientists concluded that although volcanoes affect the climate, geological processes have compensated and weakened this influence over the past million years. Since the last ice age, 60% of volcanoes have been dormant. Only a third of them are actively erupting. But the study showed that even dormant volcanoes can emit carbon, which should be considered when creating climate models.
Earlier it was reported that three volcanoes began to erupt simultaneously in Alaska. Experts called it a rare occurrence.