When two disasters saved Earth from a worse one: Pinatubo, Hydrogen Chloride and CFCs

[muriel_volestrangler]

Along with all the magma and ash, vast quantities of hydrogen chloride were pumped out of Pinatubo. Had this hydrogen chloride reached the stratosphere it would have initiated chemical reactions with chlorine (which is increased thanks to all chlorofluorocarbons – CFCs – we have pumped out) and massively thinned Earth’s ozone layer. But luckily Typhoon Yunya powered its way through the eruption plume and washed most of the hydrogen chloride out before it got anywhere near the stratosphere.

Next time we might not be so lucky. New research suggests that future Pinatubo-esque eruptions would likely cause serious thinning of the ozone layer, having a significant impact on skin cancer rates, livestock mortality and crop yields. “The implications for surface life on Earth from such a future eruption could be profound,” the scientists write in Geophysical Research Letters. And even though we are doing a good job of reducing CFCs in the ozone layer, the study showed that short-lived bromine (produced by marine plankton and micro-algae) will still facilitate this dramatic ozone thinning reaction in the stratosphere for decades to come.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/sep/03/pinatubo-volcano-typhoon-ozone-layer-terrawatch

[JayhawkSD]

1. The headline is kind of odd.

One would expect three disasters to be described, but only two are; a volcano and a hurricane. One cancelled the other, so it's hard to see how "two disasters saved Earth from a worse one."