Spain: Cumbre Vieja volcano pollutes with more than 8,000 tons of sulfur

Lava from the volcano, located in Palm, it has been moving forward without pity since September 19 and destroying everything in its path. The eruption on the Spanish island of the Canary Islands, destroyed 154 hectares and 320 buildings. Authorities say the numbers will continue to rise in the coming hours as lava moves inexorably towards the sea.

The volcano expels columns of smoke that reach hundreds of meters in height and between 8,000 and 10,500 tonnes of sulfur dioxide per day, according to Involcan. Despite this, the island’s airspace remains open. The cloud of gas and ash that the La Palma volcano spews out in the rest of the Canary Islands and can reach the Iberian Peninsula with consequences that are not yet clear.

Spain: the great video of the magma of the Cumbre Vieja volcano advancing on the basins

What worries meteorologists is that the gases can cause acid rain. According to specialists, carbon dioxide sulfur can form sulfuric acid on contact with cloud water and precipitate as acid rain. However, according to the State Meteorological Agency, the risk to people and the environment is “minimal.”

Sulfur dioxide You can reach the Iberian Peninsula between this Thursday and Friday, but with a much lower concentration than on the islands, as shown by the atmospheric monitoring model of the Copernicus satellite system of the European Union.

The lava front#RashLaPalma Advances in Todoque, Los Llanos de Aridane

Images provided by @IGNSpain pic.twitter.com/oCDKUkvmKZ

– 1-1-2 Canaries (@ 112canarias) September 22, 2021

For their part, the authorities indicated that lava advances at 4 meters per hour and that on Tuesday evening it reached 15 meters. In addition, they insist that citizens respect the exclusion radius and stay away from the laundromat.

La Palma is one of the seven islands of the tourist archipelago of the autonomous community of the Canary Islands, located in the Atlantic Ocean, near the northwest coast of Africa.