La Mauna Loa volcano eruption On the island of Hawaii last Sunday, November 27th, it didn't catch anyone by surprise, as it's the largest active volcano on the planet, and these islands aren't used to living with lava. However, at the top of the volcano, at 3.400 meters above sea level, things change. The sense of alarm is even more evident, as the volcano observatory is located there. This observatory is the world reference for measuring the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas that causes climate change. The question is whether the eruption of this volcano could cause alterations in the data collected by the observatory. To learn more about different active volcanoes, you can consult this article on active volcanoes around the world and about Mauna loa.
Therefore, in this article we are going to tell you about the data recorded and how the eruption affects climate change.
lava affection
Evacuations and power outages at the Mauna Loa Observatory following the eruption brought the center's activities to a standstill. No data has been recorded since the afternoon of Monday the 28th. “Our analytical systems and the associated gas monitoring and data acquisition equipment require power to function, so they remain idle. Even with energy, but no road access, some instruments get stuck and stop", reports the Mauna Loa Observatory. This type of situation has been documented on other occasions, such as in the Kilauea volcano eruption and in the analysis of others volcanoes in the United States.
Currently, the lava flow does not put the instruments or the observatory facilities at risk. They also do not pose a threat to local populations, as they remain far from population centers. Despite this, the United States Geographic Survey maintains a red alert level for the entire island. Also, He warned that eruptions in the region are often very active and lava flows can change direction quickly.
Geoscientists say this situation is quite concerning because the eruption is in a poor location and is so large. It is thought that it will not return to normal for several months. As the lava continued on its natural and destructive path, the research team rushed to find a safe location nearby to temporarily begin data measurements. You can see that the lava has crossed the road leading to the Mauna Loa Observatory.
Global CO2 measurements
Another big question that arises after the eruption is what happens to the logs once the equipment is reset. Carbon dioxide is one of the many gases expelled by volcanoes., so it stands to reason that if the eruption had occurred so close to the date, the observatory's instruments would have detected a rapid increase in carbon dioxide, misdiagnosing the greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. “If the analytical system works correctly, it will register an increase in carbon dioxide when the wind blows from the eruption point. However, when the wind blows in other directions, the measurements will not be affected," the geoscientists have said.
In addition, if they did occur, these disturbances would be temporary and would have no effect on overall Mauna Loa Observatory measurements, which does not measure local CO2 concentrations but so-called background CO2 concentrations. Its location atop this volcano in the middle of the ocean is precisely to avoid most of the disturbance and local sources of pollution. Furthermore, it was prepared from the outset to detect changes in local emissions, such as from volcanic eruptions, and make corrections to its records. As discussed in other studies, volcanic eruptions have an impact on global emissions, an aspect analyzed in the article on global emissions.
Geoscientists are more interested in measuring background CO2 concentrations on Mauna Loa, where they can see the effects of greenhouse gas emissions thousands of kilometers from the observatory. In the case of local sources of emissions, such as volcanic eruptions, it is easy to detect deviations in the measurements based on wind direction. In fact, that's what they did during the 1984 eruption.
And, beyond the observatory's measurements, what is the potential for this eruption to increase global concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere? After all, The planet has warmed by almost 1,3ºC since pre-industrial times, of which 0,75ºC is due to carbon dioxide. Geoscientists claim that It won't affect almost anything.
Similarly, the palm researcher Omaira García Rodríguez explained that "at a local or regional scale, and in very short periods of time, the observed CO2 concentration can vary significantly due to the impact of volcanic emissions", however, "the emissions of CO2 and like all eruptive processes in general, this type of volcano is insignificant in the global balance”.
I hope that with this information you can learn more about the Mauna Loa eruption and its carbon dioxide emissions.
