Don volcanic eruptions put out more CO2 than a decade of human activity?
No. This is a common misconception. If this was true then the CO2 record would be full of spikes, one for each eruption. From analysing data from dozens of sample stations around the world, we do not see these spikes, instead the CO2 trend is very smooth. The total rate of CO2 emissions from all the volcanoes is about 1/150th that from human activities. Comparison of CO2 emissions from volcanoes vs. human activities Scientists have calculated that volcanoes emit between about 130-230 million tonnes (145-255 million tons) of CO2 into the atmosphere every year (Gerlach, 1999, 1992). This estimate includes both subaerial and submarine volcanoes, about in equal amounts. Emissions of CO2 by human activities, including fossil fuel burning, cement production, and gas flaring, amount to about 22 billion tonnes per year (24 billion tons) (Marland, et al., 1998). Human activities release more than 150 times the amount of CO2 emitted by volcanoes–the equivalent of nearly 17,000 additional volcan
Related Questions
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- Has there been any correlation carried out for volcanic activity and CO2 emissions during the course of the AIRS instrument operation?
- Don volcanic eruptions put out more CO2 than a decade of human activity?
