• Question: Which would create more harmful gas to the ozone, if all the volcanos in the world exploded or if the entire human race farted?

    Asked by libbywyatt to Davie, Gemma, James P, James V, Nuala on 26 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: James Pope

      James Pope answered on 26 Jun 2012:

      Hi libbywyatt,

      The only dangerous gas to the atmosphere that can be farted by a human is methane, however research suggests that only 2/3’s of humans actually fart methane (even they all stink, especially the silent ones!) and even this amount is very small, so probably wouldn’t exert an effect on the atmosphere.

      Volcanoes on the other hand can belch out a whole host of dangerous gases, not to mention ash clouds. The gases from a volcano in Iceland which erupted in 1783 calld Laki spread a cloud of gas over Europe which killed up to half the crops in some places, caused at least 10,000 extra deaths in the UK in one summer and changed the climate causing a very cold European winter (which will have killed many more). Otehr volcanoes such as Mt Pinatubo in the Phillipenes and Mt Tamnbora in Indonesia have erupted and changed the climate of the Earth from gas and ash clouds, the main gas is one called Sulphur Dioxide which reflects incoming solar energy causing a cooling to the climate. When Tambora blew in 1815 it caused a “year without a summer” it changed weather that much.

      Then there are super volcanoes which could cause massive devastation if one of those (such as Yellowstone National Park in the USA) erupted, changing the climate with ash and gas for a decade or so, making it much colder and a harder place to live.

      In the deep geological past, large volcanic eruptions have caused the extinctions of nearly all life, one event about 280 million years ago, at the end of a period of time called the Permian, saw a volcanic eruption of lava across all of Siberia. This eruption triggered a change in climate that killed 95% of all life on the planet, in the biggest extinction to date (The asteroid that killed the Dinosaurs only killed 70% of life). We know this from the fossils we find before and after the event in the rocks.

      So, the most harmnful for me would be volcanoes!

    • Photo: James Verdon

      James Verdon answered on 26 Jun 2012:

      Hi libby, I remember this question from our live-chat!
      Well, we humans do all fart. And it doesn’t seem to cause us any problems. Methane quickly reacts in air to form CO2 and water vapour.

      Volcanoes can be far more deadly. If they have been known to emit things like sulphuric gasses that are pretty toxic. The ash and gas clouds erupted by large volcanoes can block out the sun, changing the climate and stopping crops from growing properly for a year or two, causing famines.

      So I think volcanoes are far more dangerous than farts!!

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