Scientists have detailed the consequences Earth could face as a result of climate change wreaking havoc on our planet’s volcanoes.
Published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, the new research explores how climate change is hindering the cooling properties volcanoes have on Earth.
While the concept of a mountain that spews molten lava helping to cool Earth might sound strange, it all has to do with columns of ash and gas released during an eruption.
Following an eruption, sulfur gasses are sent out into the stratosphere — about 6 to 10 miles above Earth’s surface — where they form aerosol particles after reacting to water.
These particles then reflect the heat from the Sun’s rays away from Earth and back into space, which helps cool the planet.
Research author Thomas Aubry said climate change is making this process much harder as it causes lower layers of the atmosphere to expand, which prevents the gasses from reaching the stratosphere.
“Volcanic eruptions tend to counteract global warming but as the planet heats up and our atmosphere changes, we’ve found that fewer eruptions will be able to reflect the Sun’s radiation,” he told Science Daily.
“It will be harder for the volcanic gasses to reach high enough into the atmosphere to help cool the planet.”
The research noted previous studies, which suggested large eruptions over the past decade had helped to create a slight decline in the rate of global warming.
Using a computer model, researchers were able to predict that over the next century, the amount of volcanic sulfur gasses in the stratosphere may decrease between two and twelve percent.
The researchers took it further, by suggesting that by the 22nd and 23rd centuries there could be as much as 12 to 25 percent less sulfur gas in the stratosphere.
Aubry said the changes mean the gasses will not only fail to reach the stratosphere, but they will be turned into clouds and return to Earth as rain or snow.
“I think there would be many more potential consequences,” he told Motherboard.
“The paper is motivated by this climate problem and in terms of risk management.”
Aubry said the research will not only help scientists better understand the role volcanoes might have played in the Ice Age, but it will help them with predictions regarding the future.
“We don’t expect to see a huge increase global warming rate due to this feedback,” he said.
“[Although], we think it’s still significant enough to matter.”