Mt. Spurr's Grey volcanic cloud (to the left of the picture) circles the Earth.
Picture supplied by Cindy Evans, Lockheed Corporation
This web site is about volcanoes and the way in which they affect the climate. In particular, it focuses on Global Cooling. These pages have a small glossary of terms which can be accessed by clicking on links within the text.
The second most powerful eruption this century was that of Mt. Pinatubo, the Philippines, in June 1991 (The 1912 Mt Katmai eruption in Alaska was larger but, naturally, less well documented in terms of climate change). The 5 billion cubic meters of ash and pyroclastic debris which were released into the atmosphere circled the Earth in just 3 weeks, and the world's temperature was reduced by an average of about 1 degree Celsius.
This site was created by Chris Garrett (cg6145@bris.ac.uk)
Last updated 2nd April 1997