Quote:
Originally Posted by jamesqf
According to the EPA "Over 65% of SO2 released to the air, or more than 13 million tons per year, comes from electric utilities, especially those that burn coal." (Cited here: http://www.a2gov.org/government/publ...Pages/sox.aspx )
Kilauea emits about 850 tons/day, about 310,000 tons/year, or about 2.4% of what US power plants emit AFTER implementing all the emissions controls required by the Clean Air act. |
This would be an interesting, and valid point, IF Kilauea was the only active volcano on the planet. From the numbers I've read, Eyjafjallajoekull was releasing 3,000 tons of SO2 per day during its months-long active period. And many more add to the release of SO2.
To make matters more interesting, SO2 is one of the man contributors to the cooling of the troposphere, so wouldn't SO2 actually mitigate global warming?