Volcanoes Effects on World

Volcanoes turned out to have both positive and negative effects on the world we live in. According to recent studies and records volcanoes emit a staggering amount of greenhouse gas into our atmosphere, but ours is eight times the amount of greenhouse gas volcanoes emit. According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the world’s volcanoes, both on land and undersea, generate about 200 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) annually, while our automotive and industrial activities cause some 24 billion tons of CO2 emissions every year worldwide. Sampling stations show that no spike in carbon emitted by volcanoes is shown, however there is a yearly increase in the amount of carbon we emit. It is also believed that volcanoe eruptions have the ability to cause global cooling. Two massive eruptions, Mt. St. Helen & Mt. Pinatubo, caused short term global cooling when it released sulfer dioxide and other particle into the stratosphere which would casue a cooling effect. Records show that it cooled the earth globally by 0.5 degrees celcius. Scientists Hugh Corr and David Vaughan of the British Antarctic Survey believe that volcanoes underneath Antarctica may be melting the continent’s ice sheets from below, just as warming air temperatures from human-induced emissions erode them from above.

In my opinion, I think that although scientists maybe able to prove that volcanoes are both positive and negative for our environment, there is nothing we can do to alter the natural course of a volcanoe. Volcanoes will continue its natural course erupting when it is time, but there is no way that any change could be made to stop a volcanoe from erupting. It is something that we will have to deal in our time.