scientists are tracking a huge plume of toxic gas moving across northern Europe spewed by the ongoing volcanic eruption in Iceland it is unlikely that the gas cloud will cause serious health problems however experts warn that this could impact the ozone hole over the North Pole on March 16th an underground volcano on the rikun peninsula in Isel exploded its peak for the fourth time in as many months opening the largest fisure in the current eruption cycle and releasing a huge lava flow that narrowly missed the evacuated town of grindvik there were initially concerns that the lava flow could reach the ocean and release plumes of hydrochloric acid which would be life-threatening to anyone near the coastline Live Science previously reported however the lava never reached the coast however the eruption releases the colorless toxic gas sulfur dioxide which can be very dangerous in high [Music] concentrations on March 29th the volcano emitted about 110 lb of sulfur dioxide every second according to a translated statement from the Icelandic meteorological office workers at the nearby sart sengi power plant were evacuated from the facility due to high gas levels Icelandic newssite RV reported and local residents were temporarily warned to stay inside according to Icelandic civil prote ction sulfur dioxide emissions have reduced significantly since March 31st but new data from the cernus atmospheric monitoring service part of the European Union's cernus program which tracks weather and climate change using satellite data shows that the initial outpouring of gas formed a concentrated column 3 high that then exploded towards other countries in northern [Music] Europe cams will continue to track this smoke although we do not expect any impact to surface air quality or climate Cam's senior scientist Mark perington said in a statement emailed to live science however tracking sulfur dioxide emissions remains important because the gas can react with ozone molecules in the atmosphere reducing the amount of protective substances in the ozone layer which protects the Earth's surface from the sun's harmful ultraviolent [Music] rays in October 2023 scientists partially linked the near record largest ozone hole over Antarctica to the 2022 eruption of an underwater volcano in Tonga which released large amounts of water vapor into the atmosphere that may have depleted ozone levels experts predict the recent eruption in Iceland could be the start of a centuries long period of new activity in the region as a result the amount of sulfur dioxide pumped into the Arctic could also increase in the next few years which could lead to a larger Northern ozone hole in the [Music] future