Monday, March 27, 2017

Russian volcano at the tip of the Kamchatka Peninsula coughs up a magnificent ash plume.

Gonna be bad news for those that fear glo-bull warming, except that judging by these satellite pictures, they could use some warming there right now.


A long-dormant volcano on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula erupted in March 2017. Several satellites caught images of a thick, ash-laden plume trailing from Kambalny.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured a natural-color image of Kambalny Volcano and its plume on March 25, 2017, the day after it began to erupt. By 1:34 p.m. local time (01:34 Universal Time) that day, the plume stretched about 100 kilometers (60 miles) to the southwest. A dark stain is visible to the west of the plume, where ash has covered the snow. By March 26, ash falls would cover the ground on both sides of the volcano.

The Ozone Monitoring Instrument on NASA’s Aura satellite observed an airborne plume of sulfur dioxide (SO2) trailing south of Kamchatka on March 26. 

Invisible to the human eye, SO2 can harm people as well as the environment. According to a recent study, volcanoes collectively emit 20 to 25 million tons of SO2 into the atmosphere per year.
An alert from the Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team warned of sporadic ash plumes rising up to 8 kilometers (26,200 feet) above sea level. The activity could affect international and low-flying aircraft in the region, the group said.


4 comments:

  1. Look at all of those greenhouse gasses. Is Al Gore going to Russia to put the volcano out?

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    Replies
    1. Maybe he should throw himself in, like a pagan sacrifice. Put that on pay per view, I'd watch.

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