Volcanic emissions affect the climate, and are also responsible for optical phenomena: the veil of gases, mainly sulfur dioxide, can change the colors of the sky at sunset.
Professor Zerefos gave a key to this change, in an article in the Journal of the EuropeanGeosciences Union: "In coloring sunsets, this is the way the brain perceives green and red which contains important information on the environment. "
The painters of the 19th century have reproduced these specific colors without understanding the cause. Among them, William Turner, known for his mastery of color, was alive during three major eruptions, that of Tambora in Indonesia in 1815 (VEI 7), that of Babuyan Claro in the Philippines in 1831 (VEI 4?) And that Coseguina of Nicaragua in 1835 (VEI 5).
He painted spectacular sunsets caused by the sulfur aerosols, especially in his painting "Dido building Carthage" in 1815, now in the National Gallery in London.
William Turner - "Dido Building Carthage" - 1815 - National Gallery London.
The last peak pollution by sulfur dioxide were measured on September 10 at 2550 µg / m³ air, as illustrated in the graph of the Icelandic Environment Agency.
The cloud is moved towards the ENE and E, making the smell of sulfur perceptible to 1300 km on the west coast of Norway.
Above, the peak of sulfur dioxide emitted by the eruption fissure of the Holuhraun 10/09/2014 - doc.Environment Agency of Iceland. - One click to enlarge - - bottom dplacement gas cloud towards the coast Norwegian - Doc. IMO
Holuhraun on 11/09/2014 - photo Skapti Hallgrímsson / mbl.is
Above, the peak of sulfur dioxide emitted by the eruption fissure of the Holuhraun 10/09/2014 - doc.Environment Agency of Iceland. - One click to enlarge - - bottom, displacement gas cloud towards the coast Norwegian - Doc. IMO
The sulfur fumes obscure the sun 08/09/2014 - photo Cambridge Univ. / Rebeccamorelle / BxAgxZPIQAA9fva
Sources :
- European Geosciences Union - Famous paintings help study the Earth’s past atmosphere - 25.03.2014 - link
- Further evidence of important environmental information content in red-to-green ratios as depicted in paintings by great masters - C. S. Zerefos & al. - link
- Zerefos, C. S., Gerogiannis, V. T., Balis, D., Zerefos, S. C., and Kazantzidis, A.: Atmospheric effects of volcanic eruptions as seen by famous artists and depicted in their paintings, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 7, 4027-4042, doi:10.5194/acp-7-4027-2007, 2007.
