We were wondering how volcanoes affect the weather and we were wondering what was the biggest eruption there has been in the last 1000 years.

Joel and Ashley

Hi Joel and Ashley,

Volcanoes can affect the weather in a number of ways. The only effects that you can undeniably blame on eruptions are close to the volcano. There is often a lot of lightning and thunder associated with explosive eruptions. This is because all the ash particles in the eruption cloud can develop static charges that help to promote the lightning. Many times these ash particles also act as nucleii for rain drops to form on, and there are heavy rains during explosive eruptions. These rains flush much of the ash out of the air so the rain is quite dirty and often contaminates drinking water supplies.

Effects farther away may be due to eruptions but they are harder to prove. The 1991 Pinatubo eruption, for example, cooled the Earth's temperature on average by about half a degree C. This must have had a number of effects on both climate and weather over most of the globe, but these effects are difficult to sort out of the regular variability that exists without large eruptions.

The largest eruption in the past 1000 years was probably that of Tambora (Indonesia) in 1815.

Sincerely,

Scott Rowland

Other Categories        Other Questions
To VolcanoWorld