How Fast Do Gases from Volcanic Eruptions Travel?
ES0906  How Long to Circle the Globe?

Mount Pinatubo’s eruption lofted aerosols all the way into the stratosphere, a layer of the atmosphere above the level of clouds and rain. The particles remained suspended there for months. Through normal atmospheric processes, aerosols from Mount Pinatubo eventually spread around the entire globe.
NASA
Apollo 11 view of Earth
10. Earth's circumference at the equator is approximately 40,000 km. At the speed you calculated, how long would it take aerosols from Mount Pinatubo to circle the globe? 


	

 	

		
			
	

	
	

		 
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