Photos Show Eruption at Mauna Loa, World’s Largest Volcano

The false concept that volcanoes launch huge quantities of carbon dioxide has been a popular meme among climate deniers for years. It’s true that volcanic exercise causes a rise in atmospheric CO2 ranges. But this contribution is completely minuscule in comparison with what we’re doing to the planet: NASA estimates that human exercise creates the equal quantity of CO2 as a Mount St. Helens-size eruption as soon as each two and a half hours (!).

“Volcanoes erupt all the time,” Phoenix stated. “There’s about 45 volcanoes erupting right now as we speak. It’s totally normal. Because we have this constant state of eruptions, people always say, oh, volcanoes produce so much CO2. But the Earth is used to this.”

Some volcanic eruptions, actually, can have the reverse impact: particles from the eruption block out some daylight and truly assist decrease temperatures. Some huge explosions from the previous, together with Mount Pinatubo’s eruption in 1991, had been accountable for cooling the Earth for a number of years after the explosion.

“Their eruptions produce particles that actually insulate us from the sun and help cool temperatures, which we see with those giant eruptions from the past. “Mauna Loa is not going to be like that,” Phoenix stated. “The hazard we’re going to see is to folks living in the path of any potential lava flows.”