Spectacular Pictures of Chilean Volcano

The volcano that erupted in Chaiten, Chile has provided some truly spectacular pictures of nature in action:

TWO spectacular forces of nature seemed to be meeting in the skies of Chile yesterday as a volcanic eruption caused a lightning storm.

It may have looked like the storm was passing the Chaiten volcano but the lightning was caused by the static charge created by the friction of rocks and ash thrown into the air, The Times reported.

The result was an extraordinary sight as lightning flickered around the dust cloud in the fiery, orange glow of the volcano.

Geoscience Australia’s Alanna Simpson said the lightning storms were common in eruptions were lots of material was thrown into the sky.

“As long as there is a similar amount of of ash in the air and similar weather conditions there is no reason why it could not continue,” she said. [News.com]

Amazing stuff, but can you imagine what the carbon offset bill for this natural disaster would be? 😉