Researchers claimed that despite there being plenty that could be done to lessen the risks, money is focused on averting low-probability situations like an asteroid collision while the much more likely hazard of a massive volcanic eruption is almost completely neglected.
Volcano catastrophe monitoring
David Billings/Unsplash
According to specialists from the University of Birmingham and the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk (CSER) at the University of Cambridge, the world is "woefully underprepared" for a major volcanic eruption and its expected effects on global supply networks, the climate, and food, as per ScienceDaily.
They claimed that there is a "widespread misperception" that the likelihood of big eruptions is minimal and called the government's present lack of investment in monitoring and mitigating possible volcano disasters "reckless" in a paper that was published in the journal Nature.
The researchers contended that protective measures against volcanic destruction can be adopted, including better surveillance, enhanced public awareness, and magma management, and the funding required to do so is long overdue.
There is a one-in-six possibility of a magnitude seven explosion occurring in the next 100 years, according to data acquired from ice cores on the frequency of eruptions over a long period of time, according to study co-author and CSER researcher Dr. Lara Mani, a specialist in global risk.
Such massive eruptions have in the distant past brought about dramatic climate change and the demise of civilizations.
Mani likened the threat of a massive eruption to that of an asteroid hitting Earth that is 1 km wide.
Similar climatic effects would result from such occurrences, but the probability of a volcanic disaster is hundreds of times greater than the probability of an asteroid or comet crash.
Tonga eruption
Tonga experienced the biggest instrumentally recorded eruption in January.
The scientists contended that catastrophic global shock waves might have resulted if they had lasted longer, spewed more ash and gas, or happened near vital infrastructures, like the Mediterranean.
Mani stated that the Tonga eruption "has to be considered as a wake-up call" because it was the volcanic equivalent of an asteroid narrowly missing the Earth.
The CSER specialists pointed to current research that used ancient ice samples to analyze evidence of sulfur spikes to determine the frequency of big eruptions.
Twice as frequently as previously believed, an eruption ten to one hundred times larger than the Tonga blast happens once every 625 years.
In what was known as the "year without summer," an estimated 100,000 people perished locally in 1816, while average global temperatures fell by one degree, resulting in widespread crop failures, starvation, violent uprisings, and infections, he added.
Today's world has an eight-fold increase in population and a fortyfold increase in trade.
We might be even more susceptible to the shocks of a large eruption due to our intricate worldwide networks.
Experts estimated that a large-magnitude eruption would cause financial damages in the multi-trillions, on a par with the pandemic.
Mani and Cassidy laid out the actions they believe must be taken to foresee and control the likelihood of a planet-altering eruption and to lessen the effects of smaller, more localized eruptions.
Significant Risks to Health from A Volcanic Eruption
Volcanoes erupt with a powerfully destructive mixture of ash, lava, hot, toxic gases, and rock.
Explosions from volcanoes have claimed lives, as per the CDC.
Volcanic eruptions can bring forth additional health risks, such as wildfires, floods, mudslides, electricity outages, and contaminated drinking water.
Infectious diseases, respiratory disorders, burns, injuries from falls, and car accidents resulting from ash-induced haze are some of the health issues that might arise after a volcanic eruption.
The likelihood of negative health repercussions from a volcanic eruption is extremely minimal when warnings are heeded.
Ash exposure carries some risk.
If they breathe in volcanic ash, infants, the elderly, and persons with respiratory illnesses like asthma, emphysema, and other chronic lung ailments may experience further health issues.
Ash is nasty, scratchy, occasionally acidic, and always abrasive.
The front of the eye can be scratched by tiny ash particles. Crystalline silica, a substance that causes silicosis, may be present in ash particles.
The majority of a volcano's gases quickly blow away. Low-lying locations can, however, become a settling point for heavy gases like carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide.
Water vapor is the most frequent volcanic gas, followed by carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide.
Sulfur dioxide can impair breathing in both healthy individuals and those suffering from asthma and other respiratory conditions.
