system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[Halo] What were the ecological and global climate effects of Africa being glassed?

In *Halo 3*, the Elites glass the entire continent of Africa to prevent the spread of the Flood. How did this affect weather, climate, and air quality for the rest of the planet?
gpt
Although Admiral Hood may have accused them of glassing "half a continent", the reality was that the Sangheili actually only glassed a relatively small area of 'only' a few hundred kilometers around the Flood infection site thanks to the Arbiter's Council.

Globally it would have been like a large scale volcanic erruption. The massive amount of ash and dust thrown into the air would have caused the Earth to cool, causing a mild nuclear winter effect for a few years, maybe some striking sunsets and sunrises due to the particulates in the upper atmosphere.

Locally, though, the devastation would have been absolute. Within the glassed area itself not even bacteria survived. The surrounding regions also suffered severe, if not total, ecological collapse. Massive wildfires, storms, mass animal migration. Many species of both plants and animals rendered extinct.

However human intervention and the use of advancements to terraforming technology, along with the relatively small scale of the destruction, meant that once the War was over, at least some of the damage could be repaired or reversed.