Volcanoes

Did you know that there are 1,500 volcanoes in the world and only about 100 volcano observatories?

The eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano in 2010 left millions stranded and cost airlines an estimated €900 million. It was a wake‐up call for all of us: you don’t need to be living on the side of a volcano to be profoundly affected by its activity.

Nicola Temple, a science writer and research impact specialist, got me thinking about volcanoes this month. Especially volcanoes like Ethiopia’s Alutu,a volcano that is not monitored, has no eruptive history and has had no hazard assessment.  Scientists are learning how to monitor these volcanoes from space.  So maybe we’ll have a better chance of planning for the next Eyjafjallajökul.