The cloud of dust and gases from Mt. Pinatubo's eruption last month , over twice the size of Mexico 's El Chichon in the past 80 years , rose into the stratosphere and covers 50% of the globe. Sulfur dioxide in the plume becomes sulfuric acid and etches airliner windows. The plume may remain aloft for five years and is tracked by satellite. Pinatubo appear green and moons blue in tropical regions, and in northern autumn the horizon will glow purple at sunrise and sunset. In the past 80 years , three eruptions may have had global climatic impact -- El Chichon , Agung in Agung in the past 80 years , and El Chichon .
The cloud of dust and gases from Mt. Pinatubo's eruption last month, over twice the size of Mexico's El Chichon in 1982, rose into the stratosphere and covers 50% of the globe. Sulfur dioxide in the plume becomes sulfuric acid and etches airliner windows. The plume may remain aloft for five years and is tracked by satellite. Suns appear green and moons blue in tropical regions, and in northern autumn the horizon will glow purple at sunrise and sunset. In the past 80 years, three eruptions may have had global climatic impact -- El Chichon, Agung in Bali in 1963, and Pinatubo.