New NASA meteorological observations suggest that a massive volcanic eruption called “flood basalt eruptions” could dramatically warm the Earth’s climate and destroy the ozone layer, which protects life from the sun’s ultraviolet radiation.
The result contradicts previous studies showing that these volcanoes cool the climate. It also suggests that while massive flood-basalt eruptions on Mars and Venus may contribute to the warming of the climate, they could end the longevity of these planets by contributing to water loss.
Unlike short, volcanic eruptions such as Pinatubo or Hunga Tonga-HungaHa’apai of January that occur for hours or days, regional basalts are flooded with a series of volcanic eruptions that last nearly hundreds of thousands of years, and occur over a period of hundreds of thousands of years sometimes even more. Some occurred almost simultaneously with major extinctions, and many were associated with the warmest periods in earth’s history. They also appear to be common on other planets in our solar system, such as Mars and Venus.
“We were expecting a great cooling off of our simulation,” said Scott Guzewich of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “However, we have found that the shorter cooling time was overcome by the warming effect.” Guzewich is the lead author of the paper on the study published in Feb. 1 in Geophysical Research Letters.
Although ozone depletion was not surprising, mimicking showed the magnitude of potential damage, “almost three-thirds of the global average, which is about the same as the entire ozone-depleted planet compared to the Antarctic ozone layer,” he said Guzewich.
Researchers have used the Goddard Earth Observing System Chemistry-Climate Model to mimic the four-year phase of the Columbia River Basalt (CRB) eruption between 15 and 17 million years ago in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The model calculated the effects of the eruption in the troposphere, the lowest layer of atmospheric turbulence and high temperatures, and the stratosphere, the next layer of dry and calm atmosphere. The CRB explosion was probably a mixture of explosive events that sent material high up into the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (approximately 8 to 10.5 miles or 13 to 17 miles high) and explosions that did not extend more than miles 1.9 (about 3 miles) high. Imitation estimates that explosions occur four times a year and emit about 80% of the explosive gases of sulfur dioxide. They found that worldwide, there had been a cooling of net nets for about two years before the warming passed the cooling effect. “Warming lasts for about 15 years (the last two years to erupt and then another 13 years or more)” Guzewich said.
The new simulation is much broader yet created due to the basalt eruption of the flood and combines the effects of atmospheric chemistry and climate change with each other, revealing a critical response path that previous simulations missed.
“Explosions like the one we are imitating can emit large amounts of sulfur dioxide,” said Guzewich. “The chemical composition of the atmosphere rapidly converts these gases into solid sulfate aerosols. These aerosols reflect visible sunlight, resulting in the first cooling effect, but also absorb infrared radiation, which warms the atmosphere above the troposphere and the lower stratosphere. The warming of this atmosphere allows water vapor (usually trapped near the surface) to mix with the stratosphere (which is often very dry). We are seeing a 10,000% increase in stratospheric water vapor. Steam is a very efficient heat-absorbing system, and it emits infrared radiation that warms the earth. ”
OZONE
The predicted increase in evaporation into the stratosphere also helps to explain the density of the ozone layer. “Ozone depletion occurs in a number of different ways,” Guzewich said. “After this eruption, the stratosphere circulation changes in ways that do not promote ozone depletion. Second, all the water in the stratosphere also helps to destroy the ozone layer by hydroxyl (OH) radical. ”
Flood basalts also emit carbon dioxide, a gas that heats up, but does not appear to emit enough to cause significant overheating of certain explosions. Excessive heat from stratospheric water vapor can give meaning.
Although Mars and Venus may have had oceans in the past, both are very dry at present. Scientists are investigating how these planets lost so much water that they could not survive. If the precipitation of the above-mentioned atmospheric precipitation is realistic, widespread volcanic eruptions could have a devastating effect on their desert systems. When the vapor rises in the atmosphere, it is easier to separate it from sunlight, and the lightweight hydrogen atoms from the water molecules can escape into the atmosphere (two hydrogen atoms bound to the oxygen atom) If stored for a long time, this could ruin the oceans.
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