Eyjafjallajökull caused fall in carbon emissions

This past week the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull was officially declared dormant. The volcano, which you almost certainly remember from the news, had a big eruption in the early months of this year effectively grounding flights all over Europe.

And you also probably know that volcanic eruptions produces carbon dioxide. So what kind of effects did Eyjafjallajökull have on our climate? Well. Not much it seems.

"This is not the big climate changing eruption that some people seem to think it is," said Mike Burton from Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology.

Because of the mass-grounding of flights in Europe the extra CO2 produced by the volcano actually helped to lower the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions during this period. The Guardian writes:

Richard Black from the BBC News concludes that the "eruption would not have any effect on weather and climate" and that:

So it seems the Icelandic volcano managed, if only for a few days, to reduce the impact aviation has on our climate - something which our politicians haven't managed yet.