NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 782: Continuous Damage
"Cough, cough cough, heave, vomit!"
Bi Fang leaned over the side of the boat to throw up, much like the morning after a night of heavy drinking.
His stomach churned wildly, his head throbbed with pain, and his muscles and bones cried out in agony, trembling uncontrollably at the slightest exertion.
No matter what he did, he could not alleviate the sensation of swelling. It felt like a python tightening around his body, squeezing his blood vessels shut with no liquid passage, turning his flesh rigid, purple, gangrenous, and on the verge of complete failure.
Another wave struck, and the Viking took on some seawater.
The canoe rocked violently, and Bi Fang's chin slammed into the deck, scraping off some skin.
Crack!
One of the last two connecting logs broke, and half of it floated on the sea, quickly washing away to who knows where.
Bi Fang grabbed hold of the remaining half, yanked it down, and pushed it aside.
In the waters of Nemo Point, wood became sparser by the minute, even a broken half couldn't be wasted as one never knew when it might come in handy.
"It hurts, it hurts so much."
Bi Fang opened his mouth wide, looking every bit like a centenarian, as though the air he sucked in leaked right out of his lungs.
He breathed in and out as best as he could, trying to ease his condition.
The damp clothes provided some protection from the toxic gases but also made breathing more difficult, exacerbating his discomfort. And yet, taking them off was not an option, for doing so could be truly fatal.
"[It's like I just ran a kilometer (Dog's head)]"
"[More like ten kilometers, with extra weight at that.]"
"[Wouldn't that kill me? (Shocked)]"
"[Are we safe now?]"
"[Awesome, charge, hit them till they're dazed and confused! (Drooling)]"
"[What kind of jinx is up ahead?]"
"[A great sorcerer, that's it.]"
"Not yet, it's just, just temporarily safe."
Bi Fang gasped for breath, climbed up from the boat, and leaned back at the bow.
The explosion had blasted him several, if not tens, of kilometers away; nevertheless, the scene of the volcanic eruption remained vividly visible in the sky.
Ash clouds shrouded the sky, reaching heights of at least five hundred meters with a diameter of more than fifty meters, entirely darkening the sky for a time.
Though not comparable to the twenty-kilometer-high eruption of the Tonga Volcano, this was a submarine volcano, and one could hardly imagine the extreme ferocity of the eruption if the volcano were on land without any obstructions.
Bi Fang stretched out his hand, reddened as if scalded by hot water, with piercing pain tormenting his brain through the skin.
Fortunately, the injury wasn't severe, with only a few small blisters. The swathes of cold seawater had done well in protecting Bi Fang as he navigated through the steam; otherwise, he would have suffered extensive scalding and almost certainly infections, which no one could have cured.
He intended to dip his hand into the sea to alleviate the pain, but unexpectedly the water was not cool and only intensified the pain.
Bi Fang almost forgot that even without the volcanic eruption, it would have been a bright sunny day, with scorching heat on top of the eruption, the sea temperature was anything but low.
He could only endure it, feeling quite helpless as he licked his cracked lips. The taste of blood filled his mouth; he didn't even need to remove the towel to know that his mouth was full of wounds.
It seemed that he had also had a nosebleed.
Given the urgency of the situation then, it was only now that Bi Fang started to recall it.
It was truly dangerous.
Thankfully, it's all over now.
After taking a few breaths to ensure he could speak normally, Bi Fang pointed to the sky-reaching column of gray ash that was still billowing.
"Actually, many times the danger from submarine volcanoes is not the volcanoes themselves, but the eruptive materials, volcanic ash, steam, and so on."
"In explosive volcanic activity, the immense amount of energy released can be stronger than a nuclear bomb, turning solid rock and magma directly into fine particles that eventually form volcanic ash."
"It possesses reactive volcanic ash properties that can fertilize soil and produce sulfur. Under normal temperatures and in the presence of water, it can also react with lime to form hydrates with hydraulic cementing properties, which when ground finely can be used as a mixing material for cement and a blending ingredient for concrete."
Bi Fang said a lot but suddenly stopped, catching his breath. Clearly, he hadn't fully recovered; speaking too much made him feel exhausted.
After a short pause, Bi Fang continued.
"However, we obviously can't collect these benefits right now, and don't even need to talk about them. On the contrary, there are a plethora of drawbacks."
"First is the damage the particles can cause to our breathing."
The smaller the diameter of the particles, the deeper they can penetrate into the respiratory tract.
Particles with a diameter of 10 micrometers usually deposit in the upper respiratory tract, those with 5 micrometers can reach deep into the respiratory tract, and particles smaller than 2 micrometers can penetrate 100% into the bronchioles and alveoli.
Inhaled particles accumulate in the respiratory system and can trigger many diseases. Exposure to coarse particles can invade the respiratory system and induce asthma.
What volcanic ash is not short of is fine particles.
And since they are solid, these things are heavy and sink,
"In 1991, when the Pinatubo Volcano erupted, typhoons and rain caused the wet and heavy volcanic ash to fall in densely populated areas, and approximately 200 people died under collapsed roofs, just like heavy snow can collapse a roof."
"Submarine volcano eruptions actually depend on specific situations, water depth, pressure, the scale of the volcano, and various reasons. Sometimes, the volcanic ash released just disperses over the sea surface. Clearly, this was not one of those times."
"Then there's the issue of toxic gases."
Volcanic eruptions involve the emission of gaseous, liquid, and solid materials from a volcano's vent to the surface in a short amount of time.
Liquid magma, solid volcanic ash, and rubble.
The variety of gases is much more extensive, including steam, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and sulfur dioxide gases. In addition, they contain hydrogen chloride, hydrogen fluoride, nitrogen, argon, methane, carbon monoxide, among others.
[Sorry, I don't really recognize them]
"You don't need to recognize all of them, just know this: the ones with sulfur and chlorine are basically all toxic."
Bi Fang tried to laugh it off, but the attempt to smile only caused pain from the cracked lips and he had to suppress his expression, coughing twice. Thankfully, the wet cloth hid this awkward moment from others.
The volcanic gases released during an eruption have a tremendous impact on the climate.
These toxic gases, containing sulfur and chlorine, can form acid rain.
When volcanic ash and gases are spewed into the high atmosphere, they can be carried by the wind to various places. These volcanic materials can block sunlight, leading to a decrease in temperature, reduced crop yields, and in severe cases, even species extinction.
Furthermore, the release of large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere can lead to an increase in the Earth's surface temperature, thereby raising ocean temperatures as well. The oxygen in the sea water would then dissipate, allowing harmful bacteria to flourish.
These bacteria only need plenty of sunlight and very little oxygen to multiply rapidly, releasing hydrogen sulfide gas continuously and causing the death of large numbers of marine life, as well as increasing the methane content in the ocean.
However, Nemo Point has no marine life, so there's no danger of species extinction.
"Even now, seeing such a colossal ash column still makes me feel terrified."
Bi Fang looked up, his tone full of emotion.