Weather: When volcanic eruptions change the climate

While the Eyjafjallajökull eruption in April is unlikely to have a long-term impact, volcanologists warn that the story may not yet be ended

by HENRY HENGEVELD

This past April, the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in southern Iceland began to erupt, ending a slumber of almost two centuries. Over subsequent weeks, it released an estimated 100,000 tons of ash into the lower atmosphere. The ash plume rose to elevations as high as 9,000 metres, refracting incoming sunlight and providing Europeans with some unusually spectacular sunsets.