A recent study published in Nature from the University of Cambridge and the University of Birmingham found that there is a general misconception of the lethal threat volcanoes pose to society and planet Earth at large. The study was authored by Michael
The January eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano in Tonga was the largest explosion recorded by instruments. Ash was dumped over hundreds of miles of land and ocean, affecting everything from infrastructure to fish stocks. This was caused by an eruption that lasted only 11 hours. If it had gone on longer, the effect on the climate, food resources and other infrastructure would have been catastrophic.
“The Tonga eruption was the volcanic equivalent of an asteroid just missing the Earth, and needs to be treated as a wake-up call,” wrote study author Laura Mani.
The eruptions are more common than researchers previously believed. Recent data from ice cores shows that an eruption 10 to 100 times larger than the Tonga one occurs once every 625 years, or twice as often as previously thought. These eruptions are categorized on the Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) that measures the explosiveness of volcanoes.
A magnitude-7 event hasn’t occurred since the eruption of Indonesia’s Mount Tambora in 1815. In this region, an estimated 100,000 people lost their lives from volcanic flows, tsunamis, damage from massive rocks and ash destroying crops and homes. Global temperatures dropped by as much as three degrees Fahrenheit.
“The risks of a massive eruption that devastates global society is significant. The current underinvestment in responding to this risk is simply reckless,” wrote Mani.
www.popsci.com/science/volcanoes-threat/