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Hazardous Emissions
Some volcanic gas emissions can mix with gases and particles already in the atmosphere, producing chemical reactions that can cause poisonous effects and toxic clouds known as vog and laze. Vog is the toxic cloud produced when oxygen, sulfate aerosols and sulfuric acid combine. Laze occurs when lava enters the ocean and creates a mixture of hydrochloric acid and seawater vapor.
Oxygen Production
Volcanoes were responsible for the formation of Earth's oxygen-rich atmosphere, according to an article in "Science Daily." The Palaeoproterozoic period saw an increase in the formation of terrestrial volcanoes, which erupted at temperatures high enough to release the oxygen that had been trapped in sediment and rocks. Oxygen comprises anywhere from 70 to 90 percent of all volcanic gas emissions into the atmosphere.
Global Cooling
Volcanic eruptions usually inject sulfur dioxide (SO2) ash into the atmosphere; this ash and particulate converts into sulfuric acid aerosol and can linger in the atmosphere for as long as seven years. According to "Scientific American," this aerosol reflects solar energy away from the Earth, thereby imparting a short-term global cooling effect after an eruption.
Myths
One of the most commonly circulated myths about volcanic effects on the atmosphere is that a single volcanic blast pumps more carbon emissions into the atmosphere than the amount generated by human activity. The truth of the matter, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, is that volcanic greenhouse emissions equal less than one percent of those generated by humans.