<blockquote>
  <p>Is it possible to create clouds by pumping water into volcanoes?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Maybe, but it's a really bad idea. Here's why:</p>

<ol>
<li>Volcanoes are unexpected and change with time. You can waste two years building a facility that does it, only for the volcano to cease being active and become dormant. Alternatively, the volcano might blow up and destroy your infrastructure.</li>
<li>You actually need lava to do so. Very few volcanoes have persistent lava lakes. Two are in tropical islands (Vanuatu, Hawaii), two are in rainforests (Nicaragua, DRC), one is in Antarctica, and only one is in a desert where it would actually be somewhat useful (Ethiopia).</li>
<li>In the absence of a lava lake, you can pump the water into the underground magma chamber and hope that it escapes in the form of steam. This is a bad <em>bad</em> <strong>bad</strong> idea, because you can cause a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phreatic_eruption" rel="nofollow noreferrer">phreatic</a> or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phreatomagmatic_eruption" rel="nofollow noreferrer">phreatomagmatic</a> eruption. Here's an example:</li>
</ol>

<p><a href="https://youtu.be/hjOnh_QRd0A" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://youtu.be/hjOnh_QRd0A</a></p>

<ol start="4">
<li>You need water. If you have fresh water, you better use that water to solve the drought directly instead of pumping it into a volcano. If you're using sea water, you have the problem of laze. At the moment the opposite is happening: Kilauea in Hawaii is erupting lava that reaches the ocean. The reaction between the hot lava and the sea water creates releases acid into the air. <strong>Bad</strong> idea. Here's how it looks like:</li>
</ol>

<p><a href="https://youtu.be/8SF5LQO4T_4" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://youtu.be/8SF5LQO4T_4</a></p>

<ol start="5">
<li>If somehow you managed to avoid exploding the volcano or creating acid rain, you would rapidly cool the top layer of the lava, solidifying it into rock. Rock is a poor thermal conductor, so you're forming a lid on top of the lava, making the thing much less effective.</li>
</ol>

<blockquote>
  <p>if an important effect of global warming is rainfall reduction and
  drought...(regardless of costs)</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Just use <strong>desalination</strong>. A very effective yet expensive way to get fresh water.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-05T12:39:29.137Z
I'm reading this (nice answer) after a year: Hawaii lava lake has since disappeared as a result of the 2018 eruption.
Jean-Marie Prival
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-09T05:42:20.363Z
2019-12-05T14:10:34.423Z
2019-12-05T14:10:34.423Z
Gimelist
<p>You could generate a lot of steam for a time, but it would require a lava lake like in Hawaii that was constantly refreshing itself or some kind of access to a large consistent magma chamber.</p>

<p>Pouring water directly onto a lava lake would probably create an eruption on its own. If the lava cooled enough you would end up with a thick insulating crust and stop getting any steam to make clouds out of it.</p>

<p>For a stratovolcano (think St Helens) or something less active, maybe you could pump water down and have it come out as steam the same way a geothermal power plant does. The scale would be huge.</p>

<p>And in either case, the steam would quickly condense into clouds so you would only get a local effect if you wanted to create rain. And to create rain you'd still need a water source which if you had could be used to irrigate. So you'd have to pump some kind of water to wherever you wanted it to begin with.  Maybe you can get away with seawater for it, but still a long way to pump it where you want to turn it into steam. </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-09T03:17:16.417Z
Yes, seawater was the idea but apparently controlling the rainfall and collecting the rain (for irrigation) does not seem possible. Does it?
Daniel
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-09T10:21:57.480Z
You could collect it in lakes, rivers and streams via dams like we do now. At which point you are just using a volcano as very brutal desalinization plant.
MartyS
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-09T14:07:44.237Z
Brutal in what manner?
Daniel
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-08T23:38:00.390Z
2018-08-08T23:38:00.390Z
MartyS
<p>Suddenly, there is this idea in my mind that if an important effect of global warming is rainfall reduction and drought, is it possible to use volcanoes as water vaporizers (regardless of costs)?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-08T21:17:24.360Z
It's not the worst idea I've ever heard, but volcanic heat is a tiny fraction of the evaporative energy from the Sun.   Also, open volcanoes are relatively few and far between, and often not where you'd need them.   There's also the problem of water vapor being created near the surface with likely rapidly settling back on the ground not drifting over farmland and probably some toxicity.    I don't think it would work for a few reasons, but it's an interesting idea.
userLTK
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-09T16:03:40.963Z
global warming won’t reduce clouds but will do the opposite as with warmer atmosphere and oceans evaporation will increase creating more water vapour in the atmosphere which when coupled with aerosols will create clouds
aaaaa
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-14T05:54:17.027Z
pumping seawater into a volcano is a good way to create hydrochloric acid,this is probably not ideal to do..
trond hansen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-22T20:54:45.497Z
Before you discount the idea, It should be worthy of study. Pumping seawater into a volcano to create clouds could technically be managed with some engineering. The main problem is that this is not a money making project, The main purpose would be to avert a life extintion event. Pipelines of hundreds or even thousands on miles are quite common.
victor
<geology><hydrology><geoengineering>
Is it possible to create clouds by pumping water into volcanoes?
Daniel
# Is it possible to create clouds by pumping water into volcanoes?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-08-08)

Suddenly, there is this idea in my mind that if an important effect of global warming is rainfall reduction and drought, is it possible to use volcanoes as water vaporizers (regardless of costs)?

**Tags:** geology, hydrology, geoengineering

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: It's not the worst idea I've ever heard, but volcanic heat is a tiny fraction of the evaporative energy from the Sun.   Also, open volcanoes are relatively few and far between, and often not where you'd need them.   There's also the problem of water vapor being created near the surface with likely rapidly settling back on the ground not drifting over farmland and probably some toxicity.    I don't think it would work for a few reasons, but it's an interesting idea.  
> **username_2**: global warming won’t reduce clouds but will do the opposite as with warmer atmosphere and oceans evaporation will increase creating more water vapour in the atmosphere which when coupled with aerosols will create clouds  
> **username_3**: pumping seawater into a volcano is a good way to create hydrochloric acid,this is probably not ideal to do..  
> **username_4**: Before you discount the idea, It should be worthy of study. Pumping seawater into a volcano to create clouds could technically be managed with some engineering. The main problem is that this is not a money making project, The main purpose would be to avert a life extintion event. Pipelines of hundreds or even thousands on miles are quite common.  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_5 on 2018-08-09. Score: 6

> Is it possible to create clouds by pumping water into volcanoes?

Maybe, but it's a really bad idea. Here's why:

1. Volcanoes are unexpected and change with time. You can waste two years building a facility that does it, only for the volcano to cease being active and become dormant. Alternatively, the volcano might blow up and destroy your infrastructure.
2. You actually need lava to do so. Very few volcanoes have persistent lava lakes. Two are in tropical islands (Vanuatu, Hawaii), two are in rainforests (Nicaragua, DRC), one is in Antarctica, and only one is in a desert where it would actually be somewhat useful (Ethiopia).
3. In the absence of a lava lake, you can pump the water into the underground magma chamber and hope that it escapes in the form of steam. This is a bad *bad* **bad** idea, because you can cause a [phreatic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phreatic_eruption) or [phreatomagmatic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phreatomagmatic_eruption) eruption. Here's an example:

<https://youtu.be/hjOnh_QRd0A>

4. You need water. If you have fresh water, you better use that water to solve the drought directly instead of pumping it into a volcano. If you're using sea water, you have the problem of laze. At the moment the opposite is happening: Kilauea in Hawaii is erupting lava that reaches the ocean. The reaction between the hot lava and the sea water creates releases acid into the air. **Bad** idea. Here's how it looks like:

<https://youtu.be/8SF5LQO4T_4>

5. If somehow you managed to avoid exploding the volcano or creating acid rain, you would rapidly cool the top layer of the lava, solidifying it into rock. Rock is a poor thermal conductor, so you're forming a lid on top of the lava, making the thing much less effective.

> if an important effect of global warming is rainfall reduction and
> drought...(regardless of costs)

Just use **desalination**. A very effective yet expensive way to get fresh water.

> **Comments:**
> **username_6**: I'm reading this (nice answer) after a year: Hawaii lava lake has since disappeared as a result of the 2018 eruption.  

---

### Answer by username_7 on 2018-08-08. Score: 1

You could generate a lot of steam for a time, but it would require a lava lake like in Hawaii that was constantly refreshing itself or some kind of access to a large consistent magma chamber.

Pouring water directly onto a lava lake would probably create an eruption on its own. If the lava cooled enough you would end up with a thick insulating crust and stop getting any steam to make clouds out of it.

For a stratovolcano (think St Helens) or something less active, maybe you could pump water down and have it come out as steam the same way a geothermal power plant does. The scale would be huge.

And in either case, the steam would quickly condense into clouds so you would only get a local effect if you wanted to create rain. And to create rain you'd still need a water source which if you had could be used to irrigate. So you'd have to pump some kind of water to wherever you wanted it to begin with. Maybe you can get away with seawater for it, but still a long way to pump it where you want to turn it into steam.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Yes, seawater was the idea but apparently controlling the rainfall and collecting the rain (for irrigation) does not seem possible. Does it?  
> **username_7**: You could collect it in lakes, rivers and streams via dams like we do now. At which point you are just using a volcano as very brutal desalinization plant.  
> **username_0**: Brutal in what manner?  

---

