It does sound a little weird. However, your mind will be blown away by the science behind this phenomenon. This phenomenon came into being on June 22, when the Raikoke volcano blasted ash and sulfuric acid 17 kilometres into the stratosphere. The volcanic eruption was quite staggering.
An eruption which goes up this high is rare. It led to the layer of sulphur particles in the northern hemisphere increasing up to twenty times. How did scientists even come to know about this? Well, turns out that sulphur particles tend to make sunrises and sunsets turn into beautiful shades of violet, right out of a fairy tale. The weather balloons traced these sulphur particles back to Raikoke and figured out what was happening.
Violet skies due to Raikoke eruption
In layman’s terms, here’s what is happening. When sunlight strikes the atmosphere at an angle – mostly during sunrise and sunset, it travels farther, basically what we call scattering of light. It also filters through a larger amount of particles called aerosols.
Those aerosols, including the sulphur particles mentioned above, act like disco balls – scattering the light in all directions. If volcanic eruptions launch enough sulphur particles into the stratosphere, they can cool down the temperature of the earth by simply diverting more sunlight into space.
Even though the particles delivered by Raikoke wasn’t enough to combat the whole global warming situation on our planet right now, it does open up many fields of research. The effects won’t last forever, of course. But until then, the Northern Hemisphere can enjoy beautiful violet skies and a comparatively less polluted atmosphere.
Further Reading: http://wordpress-695532-2297746.cloudwaysapps.com/search-engine-plants-trees/ http://wordpress-695532-2297746.cloudwaysapps.com/planets-lungs-in-danger-as-the-amazon-burns-in-fiery-rage/