A new island has appeared in the Pacific.

 

A submarine eruption just off Nishino-Shima Island Japan has erupted for the first time in 40 years:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Japanese Navy noticed the explosions as boiling lava met sea water giving rise to plumes of steam and ash.

 

Almost 7,000 miles away in Mexico, the Colima volcano blew its top after a period of relative calm. A steam and ash cloud rose two miles into the sky and the grumbling of the mountain could be heard in towns a few miles away.

 

In Guatemala the ‘Fire Mountain’ belched out lava and sent up a moderate ash cloud causing an ash fall over nearby towns. The explosions and shock waves occurring in the volcano can be felt by residents over 6 miles away.

 

Doors and windows are reported to be rattling, but there has been no damage so far.

 

In Vanuatu the Yasur volcano is giving some cause for concern. Although the explosions are quite weak the continuous ash that is coming from the mountain is starting to build up on farming land.

 

Over to Italy, Mount Etna is putting on quite a display.

 

The current eruption started a few days ago and has been getting stronger as time moves on. A massive eruption lit up the sky and disturbed residents yesterday. The ash cloud was high enough to see flights canceled. The lava flow was the biggest in years, and the town of Zafferana which lay in its path saw some damage.

 

Lava diverters were put into place, and most of the town escaped unscathed.

 

 

 

 

The Etna eruption (Nov 17th)

 

 

 

 

 

In Indonesia a four mile high ash cloud is making life hard for residents.

 

Mount Sinabung came back to life in 2010 after dormancy of hundreds of years. Occasionally coming to life after its 2010 awakening, the rumbling of the volcano prompted the evacuation of over 6000 people as scientists feared a major eruption.

 

There has been no lava flows so far but the ash cloud is growing.

 

 

Mount Sinabung ash cloud

 

 

Still in Indonesia but on the island of Java this time, Mount Merapi exploded yesterday.

 

Many people were killed when it last erupted in 2010. There is no news of casualties at this point.

 

So, we have eruptions big enough to prompt evacuations. Flights are canceled, and a new island pops up off the coast of Japan. I would have called that newsworthy myself but obviously I’m wrong. If I was right it would have been common knowledge right? Reports may have been on the news right?

 

So many volcanoes throwing so much gas, ash and particulates into the air can have an effect on climate, this is a scientific fact. I’m not saying that these volcanoes herald the start of a new ice age but the planet certainly seems to be getting a bit more active of late.

 

Continued large eruptions put a huge amount of particulate matter into the atmosphere, and these particles reflect sunlight away from earth and when there is enough of them the temperatures can drop.

 

The Mount Pinatubo eruption lowered temperatures by around 0.5°C across the Northern Hemisphere.

 

Considering that we are in a cooling period anyway, having so many volcanoes going off at the same time is not good. Aside from the devastating effects the lava and ash can have on the lives of those living near to them, the global impacts can be enormous.

 

Lost crops due to ash fall and lower temperatures can lead to hunger and famine, as happened after the Tambora eruption in 1815.

 

Economic losses due to lost crops and canceled flights runs into millions of dollars a day, as with the Icelandic eruption of Eyjafjallajökull (pronounced: aya fiat la u cud la)  in 2010.

 

The spasms of the earth come without warning, but at the same time those spasms should be a wake up call to all of us that change can happen in the blink of an eye.

 

Better be prepared for it.

 

 

 

Sources

• http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn24602

• http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2013_11_19/photo-Etna-volcano-shoots-ash-into-sky-in-spectacular-nightime-show-0497/

• http://www.volcanodiscovery.com/vanuatu/yasur/news/38906/Yasur-volcano-Tanna-Island-Vanuatu-activity-update-ash-emissions-weak-strombolian-explosions.html

• http://www.volcanodiscovery.com/fuego/news/38911/Fuego-volcano-Guatemala-increasing-lava-flows.html

• http://www.volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=264040

 

My article yesterday "Seven Volcanoes in Six Different Countries all Start Erupting Within Hours of Each Other" has raised a great deal of interest. Here at The Daily Sheeple and on other sites who have kindly republished it, many readers have asked questions.

 

So, I’m going to have a go at answering some of them.

 

This is nonsense, the volcanoes are just doing what volcanoes do.

 

It’s not nonsense, but you are correct that it’s what volcanoes do. Volcanoes are vents, when the pressure builds up the volcanoes release a mixture of steam and gases, sometimes rocks and molten rock (lava), to relieve the pressure build up.

 

According to the Smithsonian Institute, there are some 1,511 active volcanoes on the planet. Active is defined as a volcano that has erupted at some point during the last 10,000 years.

 

The Smithsonian states that on average there are 60 eruptions a year, but that between 45 and 75 would be considered within normal parameters. Today, at this moment 34 volcanoes are actively erupting

 

 

 

[enlarge]

 

 

 

The Smithsonian also states that up to 20 volcanoes erupting on a given day would be within the normal parameters.

 

The reason the daily figure is such a large proportion of the yearly figure is simply because some volcanoes are always erupting. Stromboli and Kilauea are good examples of this, though there are others included in the daily count.

 

So, based on the Smithsonian figures, we are well above the daily amount of expected eruptions. It was having seven distinct and not constantly erupting volcanoes erupting within hours of each other that grabbed my attention yesterday.

 

 

 

So volcanoes contribute to global warming like humans do?

 

Yes and no. Volcanoes spew out a massive amount of gases, many of them on the global warming ‘hit list’ so yes, they contribute to the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere BUT, this is more than offset by the cooling effect of the gases, ash and particulate matter which lowers the mean global temperature.

 

You can read about various volcanic gases here.

The Mount Pinatubo eruption, which climaxed with nine hours of eruption on June 15, 1991. On June 15, millions of tons of sulfur dioxide were discharged into the atmosphere, resulting in a decrease in the temperature worldwide over the next few years.

(source)

 

 

The Mayans said it would end in fire…

 

They also mentioned floods, and I think they got the date wrong. I am not familiar with all the Mayan prophesies so I think I should stick to the bits of science I understand.

 

 

 

It’s the End Times, it’s Gods will

 

I can’t comment on that.

 

 

 

You need a tinfoil hat, everything’s a conspiracy?

 

I’m not saying that, not at all, though Evan Pugh Professor Richard Alley of Penn State did once say in a televised lecture that “if volcanoes communicated they could take over the world”.

 

His work in ice core analysis has provided much of the information we currently have about how volcanoes have affected our climate in the past.

 

 

 

What was the biggest eruption of all time?

 

The Siberian Traps eruption some 250 million years ago . In recorded history the largest eruption was Tambora in 1815.

It was so big, in fact, that it canceled summer. That’s right, no summer.

 

So much ash was thrown into the atmosphere when Tambora exploded in 1815 that it effectively blocked out sunlight and solar radiation, reflecting it back out away from our planet, which started getting kind of chilly and cloudy as a result.

 

Thus, 1816 became the year without a summer. Way off in Europe and the United States crops failed, and people starved, while back in Indonesia 10,000 people were killed nearly instantly by lava flows and toxic fumes.

 

The overall death toll from the explosion and resulting tsunami was 92,000 (not counting the death of an entire season).

(source)

 

 

Is this uptick in activity anything to do with comet Ison?

 

In my opinion no, but I’m not an astrophysicist, actually I’m not any kind of scientist so what I should say is I don’t know.

 

Ison is continuing its nose-dive towards the Sun. I don’t think there is enough solid matter left for it to influence volcanic activity at such a distance. There would be no gravitational effects for example.

 

As an aside, did you see this shot of Ison’s tail? It’s so long it would cover the distance between the earth and the Moon 21 times over.

(source)

 

 

 

Is the increase in solar flares or sunspots to blame?

 

An increasing number of scientists are starting to look at the influence that activity on the Sun plays on the Earth’s geological processes and climate. Many now agree that the number of sunspots can affect climate on Earth, but no conclusions have yet been reached on if they can also have an effect on volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.

 

Research in the Earth’s orbital cycles and the effect they have on crustal processes is further advanced than the sunspot/geology research.

 

These orbital cycles move us closer, or further away from the Sun depending on where we are in the cycle so it looks like the Sun itself could have an effect on geological processes in its own right.

 

They are called Milankovitch cycles and although they were described more than a century ago, their existence was only finally confirmed in 1976. You can read more about them here.

 

 

 

Pole shift is the cause

 

There is no evidence that terrestrial pole shift has ever occurred.

 

The drifting and coming together of the continents is well documented, as is their drifting apart again over a period of millions of years. Terrestrial pole shift where the continents physically move suddenly and violently is not evidenced anywhere in the geologic record at this point.

 

Magnetic pole shift does occur, has always occurred, and will continue to do so. This is evidenced in the geologic record.

 

Science has not yet found a connection between magnetic pole shift and volcanic eruptions but that’s not saying they won’t do so in the future.

 

 

 

You are an alarmist, a few minor volcanoes erupting will not affect anything.

 

You think? Well that’s your right. In my opinion there is nothing alarming about pointing out that volcanic activity has increased and continues to increase.

 

As stated above, the Pinatubo eruption in 1992 reduced global temperatures for years. It doesn’t have to be one large eruption to do that, enough small ones will have the same effect.

 

Our climate moves in cycles, always has and always will, and at this point we are in a cooling cycle. Add to that the research that points to sunspot activity causing cooling, and then add on the cooling caused by volcanism and the result is a distinct possibility of a more profound cooling than might have otherwise been expected.

 

The government says nothing, warns of nothing, so we have to research and read and find out for ourselves.

 

Many people don’t physically have the time to find out for themselves, they are too busy working every hour God sends to feed their families. That’s where alternative news websites come in.

 

Now, if I’m wrong, and we get all toastie warm…great, fantastic, I hate the cold. If, however, this is a trend that’s set to continue, then sharing what I believe to be correct information is not just the right thing to do, it’s something I feel obligated to do.

 

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