Your World is Erupting. Volcano. A 2007 eruptive column at Mount Etna producing volcanic ash, pumice and lava bombs Santa Ana Volcano, El Salvador, a close up aerial view of the nested summit calderas and craters, along with the crater lake as seen from a United States Air Force C-130 Hercules flying above El Salvador.
Erupting volcanoes can pose many hazards, not only in the immediate vicinity of the eruption. One such hazard is that volcanic ash can be a threat to aircraft, in particular those with jet engines where ash particles can be melted by the high operating temperature; the melted particles then adhere to the turbine blades and alter their shape, disrupting the operation of the turbine. Large eruptions can affect temperature as ash and droplets of sulfuric acid obscure the sun and cool the Earth's lower atmosphere (or troposphere); however, they also absorb heat radiated up from the Earth, thereby warming the upper atmosphere (or stratosphere).