[jaysay]

Originally Posted by garinda

Might be cut to two days this year.


'Volcanic activity affects not only land and sea, but the atmosphere as well. 1816 was known as the "Year without a Summer" following a powerful eruption of Mt. Tambora in Indonesia a year earlier. The eruption of Krakatoa in Indonesia in July of 1883 produced similar effects worldwide. This great eruption was heard about 3,000 miles away. It produced sea waves almost 130 feet (40m.) high that drowned 36,000 people on nearby islands. There was a loss of 20-30% of direct solar radiation for three years after the eruption. That explosive eruption injected clouds of debris high into the stratosphere. Large volcanic eruptions like Krakatoa can cause short-term cooling of the climate by ejecting great quantities of dust, ash, carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere. Particles of sulfur dioxide in the volcanic dust can reduce the amount of incoming radiation, effectively cooling the upper atmosphere. When the particles of SO2 combine with water vapor, they produce sulfuric acid. Another consequence of some volcanic eruptions is therefore an increase in acid rain.
Brilliant sunsets and cooler summers followed the 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo. The eruption of this Philippine volcano spewed about 15 million metric tons of sulfur dioxide gas into the atmosphere. The resulting aerosol cloud depressed the mean global temperature by some 0.5oC.'
Weather

Volcanic activity didn't do much for the people of Pompeii either