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I’ll have to read this again, too late int he day to absorb it all.

Interesting idea, gases released by volcanoes capable of causing climate change.

What is already known though, is volcanic activity definitely can cause major adjustments in climate, at least on a temporary basis, by producing huge ash clouds that block out sunlight. This has already been mentioned in another post, and is a verified fact.

The ash clouds produced by very large volcanic eruptions can be immense, comparable to nothing in recent human history. I think of Pompeii as a possible example. Thick layers of ash have been discovered in various areas that indicate some of the prehistoric eruptions have been like nothing we can even imagine.

One potential location is the Yellowstone Caldera, which I only recently found out about, capable of producing enough ash to cover at least 1/3 of the US. And that’s just what settles to the ground. The light weight ash that remains in the atmosphere would probably be enough to block sunlight for a long time and possibly shut down all or most plant growth in this country. That would also result in a short term decrease in temperatures that would resemble a mini ice age, which is probably already in our future due to decreased solar activity. In addition, along with this period of reduced solar activity, historically we’ve seen an increase in earthquake and volcanic activity. The one mentioned earlier in this thread I think was during one of those, the 1810 to 1815 period when the New Madrid fault in the US also produced major earthquakes. (1811 I think) I’ll have to read again and make sure I saw the date range I’m actually thinking of.

OK I decided to open it in another tab, same period. Posted by RayChuang88 in post #14, the Tambora eruption was in 1815, same time period as the New Madrid earthquake, which was in 1811. Right at the same time as world wide colder winters, generally called a mini ice age. Also associated with reduced solar activity. Those were just two instances during that period.

So an eruption of any of the caldera volcanoes discovered so far would produce enough ash to block or reduce sunlight worldwide...that can happen, remember the African dust storm a couple of years ago? I heard about it and took pictures of the fog it produced after being blown across the ocean to right here in my back yard in Texas. It looked like a foggy day, but it was actually a huge dust cloud produced by a dust storm in the Sahara. Everyone I know had serious sinus problems for a few days. If that, produced on the surface in Africa, can be blown all the way to Texas, an ash cloud from a volcano can do the same thing in the upper atmosphere.

Very interesting topic, I’ll have to read this article again later and see if I can understand a little more of it when I’m not tired out...