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Everyone was aware of the impending Mt St Helens activity... for about sixty days, including a state of emergency declared over 30 days before the main event...

20th March, 1980
Moderate earthquake under volcano signified rising magma.

25th March
Mountain closed to climbers.

27th March
First eruption in 123 years. Ash emitted to 3 km into the air and a small crater formed on the summit.

30th March
Sightseers flocked to area.

3rd April
State of emergency declared.

17th April
Risk of landslide recognised on the volcano north flank.

22nd April - 7th May
Volcano stopped erupting but bulging continued. By 27th April the bulge measured 2.5 km across and protruded 80 m.

7th May
Large earthquakes under volcano. Ash and steam emissions resumed after two weeks of quiet.

12th May
A larger than normal earthquake caused a one kilometer long avalanche down the north slope.

14th May.
Only small eruptions.

15th May
No eruptions.

17th May.
30 car loads of residents enter the restricted zone to gather possessions.

18th May 1980
The large eruption began at 8:32 am.
An earthquake shook loose the upper northern flank of the volcano. About 3 cubic km of of the mountain slid down in a massive avalanche at 250 km/hr.
The avalanche released pressure on the volcano and unleashed a huge explosion. A 300-500 km/hr blast of hot gases and fractured rock covered 600 sq km in minutes. 30 seconds after the initial blast the volcano released a Plinian eruption column of ash which rose to a height of 25 km in 15 minutes. The ash reaches Spokane 430 km away in 3½ hours. From noon until 5:30 pm nuee ardentes swept 8 km down the northern slopes of the volcano at 300 km/hr. Mudflows raged down the side of the volcan and were caused by melting of the snow on the mountain.

Effects of the eruption.
57 people were killed.
400 m lost from the height of the mountain.
Total damage bill one billion dollars.

http://www.volcanolive.com/sthelens.html

http://www.volcanolive.com/vei.html

Claims "20-30", so about 1.2 million cars per volcano. Give or take a fair bit because the "lava flow" ones would be putting out a fare bit as well.

52 Million cars are projected to be made this year, and going by 3600kg per car, means they will be putting out about 187 billion kg ontop of the millions of cars already out there.

Provided all of the 4 sites are correct, the emissions from cars a year is probably about 5 to 8 times more than volcanoes a year.

Well then... prove it already.

Show those that believe natural-borne phenomenon such as volcanic activity and animal-sourced emissions are less significant than any man-made pollution. Prove it.

Clearly there are moments in our history when we have wrought damage to our environment. But to say (or even imply) that we are systematically destroying our planet... prove it.

Statements such as (paraphrasing one Gore's current talking points) "we have 10 years to go or our planet is beyond the point of no return" strike me as way over the top. To Mr. Gore or any of his followers/supporters: prove it.

I don't listen to Rush myself (I work during the time of his show), so I don't know what he is saying about this at present. But I can tell you my own point of view, and it is that it's really difficult to listen to the leftist claptrap that's coming out of the so-called "concerned scientist" community these days. It's obviously to me that it's about a political agenda, not about any concern for our environment.

Mod me down, all you lefties and socialists and ecology activists. Enjoy yourselves.

I'd be interested in seeing if any of your responses to this are any more than vitriol, or "just play along and our planet will survive" (still without any facts), or whatever.

I'll start with some real information of natural-borne phenomenon doing more environmental damage than what man can ever do. Google "Mt. Pinatubo", and you will get these links (among many others):

http://library.thinkquest.org/17701/high/effects/p inatubo.html
http://www.answers.com/topic/mount-pinatubo
http://www.volcanolive.com/pinatubo1991.html

Effects of the Eruption (from the last link above):

740 people killed.
A huge caldera was formed 2.5 km across.
260 m was lost off the summit of the volcano.
The ash entered the stratosphere and covered the whole earth within 12 months.
Global temperatures were reduced by 0.5 degree C the year after the eruption.
Forests buried under 50-200 m deep ash and pumice.
During the last five months of 1991 200 mudflows raced down the valleys of Pinatubo.
Damage amounted to $450 million dollars.
8,000 houses were destroyed and 75,000 houses damaged.
2 million people were affected by the eruption.
The biggest volcanic disaster of the 20th century was avoided due to good planning and monitoring.

One point I will repeat:
Global temperatures were reduced by 0.5 degree C the year after the eruption.

This planet does more to ITSELF in a matter of months than us 6+ billion people could ever think of doing to ourselves in our entire recorded history.

I don't know if Rush really said "prove it".

But I certainly will:

PROVE IT.

Reading the article made me curious about being killed by volcanos in general. I googled this site. Pretty interesting read, but it doesn't satisfy my "how painful would it be to jump into a lava flow" curiosity

Cooled lava flows may look stable to walk on, but the crust may be thin, which would expose the hiker to a falling into a lava tube. There may even be flowing lava under a thin crust of aa lava. Falling into an active lava tube will be instant death.

http://www.volcanolive.com/safety.html

Seach runs chartered volcano tours and has amassed quite a collection of pics which are up on the site too.

Seach runs chartered volcano tours and has amassed quite a collection of pics which are up on the site too.

-FL