Volcanoes essay

Volcanoes essay

            In the past five years, there have been a couple of volcanic eruptions, especially in West with Hawaii Kilauea, with the highest level of impact on the environment. Most of the volcanic eruptions that have been witnessed are mostly Stratovolcano, and others are shield volcanic. For instance, the explosions in Ubinas in Peru, Nevada’s De Chillan in Chile, Mt Taal in India, and Fuego in Guatemala are Stratovolcanoes. On the other hand, Mt Kilauea in Hawaii, Mt Kyushu in Japan, Sinabung in Indonesia, and Mt Kyuchevskoy in Russia are Shield Volcanoes.

Most of the Volcanoes have had a history of eruption with a span of more than ten years. For instance, Mt Kilauea in Hawaii has over 50 years of subsequent eruptions, but its significant eruptions began late in this decade, wherein 2019, there have frequent events of explosions. Mt Kilauea is located at the Eat Rift Zone, and there is a trendy national park referred to as Hawaii Kilauea National Park. The primary cause of the eruption was geothermal drilling and energy production within the area. Seismic activities cause the explosions like in Mt Sinabung, Kyushu, Nevada. For instance, Mt Sinabung eruptions are caused by the ‘Ring of Fire,’ a belt of tectonic plate boundaries circling the Pacific Ocean where seismic activities occurred, leading to an explosion of ash and hot gases (NASA). Further, Mt Etna in Italy lies above the convergent plate margin between the African Plate and Eurasian plate, which gives way for seismic activities leading frequent eruption in the East Coast of Sicily, where two cities are affected, Messina and Catania.

The volcanic activities have a significant impact on the atmospheric environment, which poses a threat to air traffic. For instance, the volcanic eruption that occurred in Iceland in 2010 and Fuego in 2018 produced massive ash at the higher levels of exospheres. The hot ashes and gases congest the turbines in the airlines, which leads to considerable losses to the airline companies for several days (Dailey). Besides, the gaseous mixture that is produced during the explosive eruptions has proved to be extremely harmful to the airplane engines. Some of the volcanoes, like in Sinabung and Etna in Italy, frequently occur, which causes subsequent losses to the airline corporations directly and indirectly through increased cost of engine repairs, re-routing, and standstills. However, the risks are inevitable as the causes of the eruptions are beyond human capacity.  Therefore, airline companies have to assimilate into the mature of the events.

The volcanic eruptions have caused high levels of deaths in each continent of the earth. Most of the volcanoes have been unable to be predicted, leading to a  high level of death as most of the people are not evacuated in the areas of the eruptions. For instance, in Mt Sinabung, the death toll in 2014 was as high as 400 people within two days (Khaliq). In Hawaii Kilauea, the total death toll is as high as 278, 368 as of 2017. In June 2018, 156 people were reported dead, and 256 were reported missing after pyroclastic flow in Fuego. The leading cause of this high level of deaths is the Pyroclastic flow of hot lava mixture, which spreads over a large area leading to an increase in the number of people affected (Dailey). Most of the deadly eruptions are commonly caused by the Pyroclastic flow of the lava mixture (ash, rocks, and gases). The pyroclastic flow is a lateral flow and turbulent density currents. In some cases, NASA and other geology companies have been able to predict the eruptions which help the national governments in various countries to take appropriate actions in avoiding severe damages and death within the affected areas. In 2018, Hawaii had prepared enough to ensure that there are no deaths as a result of the eruptions. They were no or injuries reported.

The volcanic eruptions have a substantial impact green hose effect and damage of the Ozone layer due to the gases that are produced during the explosions such as Carbon Dioxide, halogens such as Bromine and chlorine, and Sulphur. Most of the eruptions in recent years, like in Etna, Sinabung, Kilauea, and Taal, have caused immense gas production, which when have amplified the depletion of the Ozone layer. According to a report provided by a geologist in 2019, the impact of Hawaii eruption in 2018 affected the Ozone layer, although at a low rate. This means if the explosions continue to happen, the Hawaii Kilauea alone can have a significant impact, which can increase the temperatures and result in climatic conditions in the region (Klemetti). During the eruptions that occurred in Krakatoa, a sizeable aerosol cloud was produced, which revolved around the globe leading to droughts for at least four years. Further, Mount Hudson in Southern Chile erupted, leading to a high production of sulfurigh, which led to decreased global temperatures. As a result, the polar bear population in the Hudson Bay exploded.

The gaseous mixture that is expended in the air has negative impacts on the health of the people who inhale it. The gases contained include carbon monoxide, Sulphur dioxide, hydrogen sulphide, hydrogen fluoride, and methane, which impair the respiratory system of the living organism, including human beings. The level of impact depends on the distance from the volcano. These gases contain toxic elements that lead to breathing conditions on the people who are near the volcanos, for instance, bronchitis. Some of the people that are interviewed after the eruptions of Kilauea have revealed high levels of fatigue, headaches, and low levels of visibility (Klemetti). Additionally, the ashes and other lava materials cause skin infections when they come into contact with the human body. Eruptions cause psychological trauma to people who survive the explosions. Some of the people end up developing mental disorders or hearing problems. These may become permanent on the casualties, and others end up recovering from the conditions.

Volcanic eruptions have massive economic impacts. The pyroclastic flow destructs the critical infrastructure that serves the economy of the countries or regions such as railways, roads, bridges, and also commercial buildings. For instance, Hawaii has been spending millions of dollars in trying to build the infrastructure that has been damaged by the pyroclastic materials in the region. Also, the country and other whether organizations spent a lot of money in trying to combat the greenhouse effect caused by the gases that are released in the atmosphere after the explosions. Agricultural production reduces as a result of the massive destruction of farm products(Klemetti). The hot magma burns the products that are in the farms completely, which sometimes causes farmers to have losses exclusively during the seasons. For instance, in Mt. Taal eruptions, all the farm products that were around the region were utterly scorched by the hot magma within a radius of 10 kilometers. Some of the products that were panted just near the mountain are cotton, maize, beans, wheat, and fruits. These products form the subsistence food for the Indians, which means that most of the people lost a lot of money, including the initial capital which they had laid on the farms.