Hooray for volcanoes!

One Icelandic volcano has today done what Plane Stupid can only dream of achieving.

What a pity it had to emit so much CO2 during the process.

Actually, I did wonder how volcanic activity compared with human activity. The U.S. Geological survey reckons:

Comparison of CO₂ emissions from volcanoes vs. human activities.
Scientists have calculated that volcanoes emit between about 130-230 million tonnes (145-255 million tons) of CO₂ into the atmosphere every year (Gerlach, 1991). This estimate includes both subaerial and submarine volcanoes, about in equal amounts. Emissions of CO₂ by human activities, including fossil fuel burning, cement production, and gas flaring, amount to about 27 billion tonnes per year (30 billion tons) [ ( Marland, et al., 2006) - The reference gives the amount of released carbon (C), rather than CO₂, through 2003.]. Human activities release more than 130 times the amount of CO₂ emitted by volcanoes--the equivalent of more than 8,000 additional volcanoes like Kilauea (Kilauea emits about 3.3 million tonnes/year)! (Gerlach et. al., 2002)