inquire project #2 the impacts of volcanoes

for this round of research i will be talking about the impacts volcanoes have on our environment. although you may think volcanoes only have negative effects which it mainly does but unexpectedly enough, volcanoes also aid our earth.

first lets start with the negative impacts of the eruption of volcanoes;

Economic activity can suffer as it is hard for businesses to operate after an eruption, everyone would most likely be cleaning up the messes and taking care of more important things then to well,go shopping at your local businesses or store, This isn’t good for small businesses or ones that were already in need because with a crisis like these businesses tend to shut down. Volcanic ash is very difficult to clean up.1  Its tiny, dust sized particles can enter into everything. from car engines to air vents and even computers. It can erode anything that it contacts, often causing machinery to fail. Airborne volcanic ash is mostly dangerous to moving aircraft. The small particles of rock and glass can melt inside an airplane engine and solidify on the turbine blades causing the engine to stall and then crash. one of the worst outcomes of volcanic eruptions is its ash it creates, like said above ash is a burden to every day things human use but it also has multiple dangerous health affects to humans and animals. Exposure to ash can be harmful to children, elderly people and people with respiratory conditions such as asthma and other chronic lung diseases. They may have problems if they breathe in volcanic ash. Ash is very corrosive. Small ash particles can scratch the front of the eye. Ash particles may contain crystalline silica, a material that causes a respiratory disease called silicosis. 3

volcanoes produce gases that can be harmful to the people living close to the explosion. At low levels, gasses can irritate the eyes, nose, and throat. At higher levels, gasses can cause rapid breathing, headache, dizziness, swelling and spasm of the throat and suffocation. This would cause the people around the eruption to have to wear masks are any sort of thing to keep them safe. People can become stressed after an eruption as for the lava making roads slippery and accidents more likely happening. 3

there was research made in 1815 after the eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia, it was then known as the largest explosion in the world recorded in history. It ejected an estimated 150 cubic kilometres of debris into the air. The researchers found that that after the volcano erupted the average global temperature cooled by 3° Celsius, causing extreme weather around the world for three years. As a result of Mount Tambora’s volcanic ash. After that North America and Europe experienced the “Year Without a Summer” in 1816. The eruption caused a lot of impacts to the earths temperature which led people to think, what other eruption could have done the same? and, could a bigger volcano change our maturates more drastically making the earth too warm? 2

during an eruption volcanoes can also affect the environment around it, it can cause sudden mudslides and floods, power outages wild fires and water contamination. After the eruption rain water may pass through the ash or the volcanic material, after a while the rain water becomes contaminated with the ash but still stays in a liquid matter, people and communities will mistake that water with drinking water and unwillingly drink ash contaminated water. ash contaminated water is very dangerous for humans and can cause multiple serious health effects such as cancer. 4

now that i have mainly brought your attention to the bad aspects of volcano eruption i would like you calm your mind and put it out there that although this destructive matter is dangerous it has also brought good things to our earth. volcanic rocks after left on the ground creates a great fertilizer to the soil, which is very beneficial to farmers and crop growers. there are nice expensive minerals inside the lava that can then be collected and sold. the geometric energy volcanic eruptions create can be harnessed and used as cheaper natural energy/ electricity. 1

i hope this was helpful information that broadened your view on volcanic eruptions and their impacts, thank you for reading 🙂

-oceane 

1-https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z8p9j6f/revision/6

2-https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/human-environmental-impact-volcanic-ash/

3-https://www.cdc.gov/disasters/volcanoes/facts.html#:~:text=Volcanoes%20spew%20hot%2C%20dangerous%20gases,driking%20water%20contamination%2C%20and%20wildfires.

4- https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/58903