ENVIRONMENT

Volcano carbon footprint overstated in social media posts

Published on 22/03/2023 at 14:57

A tweet claims the carbon dioxide released by a recent volcanic eruption in Indonesia is equal to the amount emitted from all other sources over a century. This is false; experts told AFP the emissions from large volcanic eruptions are dwarfed by those from human activities and that in rare cases, eruptions can temporarily cool the surrounding atmosphere as was observed in the Philippines in 1991.