Closer Look: It’s Volcano Time
While waiting for Iceland to (possibly) erupt, we take a closer look at Icelandic and global volcanism.
One of the daily activities that is helping me stay sane is volcano watching. I love volcanoes. I especially enjoy when they erupt in places that have webcams but don’t affect the lives of people. Unfortunately, those are both rare, unless, it seems, you are in Iceland.
Over the past decade, Iceland has given us hours of entertainment watching lava flow out from rifts and cones. People gather nearby to watch, set up webcams for science, and even fly drones to catch amazing imagery that they then share with the world at large. And as long as no one gets hurt, that’s fine.
But volcanoes aren’t always polite. In fact, they usually are not polite. They erupt where people live, partially because we keep building near them for the rich soil. They erupt in backyards. They destroy towns. And when your home is on a volcanic island created by both a hot spot and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, there’s always a risk that magma will find its way up through the rocks under you.
