What is the effect of volcanic ash on the environment?

Answer 1

It affect the air that we breath on very extremely.
Volcanoes affect the atmosphere in various ways. Near the eruption heavy rain takes place, accompanied with lightning, thunder and volcanic fog. This is caused by ash particles sprayed into the atmosphere which collects water droplets. Particles flowing through the air most probably separate positive and negative charges and thereby cause lightning. Save in the case of massive eruptions which vomit out materials in the atmosphere they do not have any affect on the entire world. A proper detailed study/ research is going on. The eruptions emit lavas containing abundance of sulfur dioxide which reacting with atmospheric water produce sulfuric acid droplets. They in turn are carried away in the trade winds towards the leeway side of the Big Island.

Answer 2

Volcanic ash is good for the environment; it contains a variety of minerals which plants can use, so that it fertilizes soil. It is, however, not healthy to inhale, so it is only good once it has settled out of the air.

Answer 3

Historical eruptions generally have caused few water-quality problems, and hazardous chemical changes have been reported in only a few cases. The most common change in water quality results from the suspension of ash in open water-supply systems. Turbidity limits are easily exceeded by suspended ash. Water-quality monitoring programs can identify changes that may be hazardous and determine when warnings may need to be issued regarding potable water. Adverse affects on covered water supplies are minimal; for example wells with covered pump stations. There are many reasons that large volcanic eruptions have such far-reaching effects on global climate. First, volcanic eruptions produce major quantities of carbon dioxide, a gas known to contribute to the greenhouse effect.

By far the more substantive climatic effect from volcanoes results from the production of atmospheric haze. Large eruption columns inject ash particles and sulfur-rich gases into the troposphere and stratosphere and these clouds can circle the globe within weeks of the volcanic activity. The small ash particles decrease the amount of sunlight reaching the surface of the earth and lower average global temperatures. This has caused serious loss of plant growth / crops in the recent past.

The sulfurous gases combine with water in the atmosphere to form acidic aerosols that also absorb incoming solar radiation and scatter it back out into space; or the aerosols merge with water to form acid rain which damages plant growth.
Yes, volcanic ash does affect the weather as when there is volcanic ash spewing out and floating into the atmosphere, the sun rays are reflected back into outer space. Therefore, the sun's rays will not heat up the the area in the vicinity of the volcano. That is why scientist have been waiting for the 'next big eruption' and are hoping that it will cover the entire earth's atmosphere to reduce global warming greatly as the ashes will take a few days to clear. It may not be possible as how is volcanic ash going to spread over the whole earth?

Answer 4

Well it might cause another ice age because the ashes and debris will block out the sun and the sun wont heat up.