You think Volcanoes aren’t a threat in the US? Not only can we, indeed have domestic Volcano eruption emergencies (Mount Saint Helens, Hawaii…) but volcanic eruptions elsewhere can cause drastic weather changes stateside which can result in unexpected (and therefor un-prepared-for) severe weather.
In Alaska, StormCenter is working with the Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) in Anchorage to establish its technology as a core collaboration, coordination and data sharing technology for the protection of the nation’s airspace. In a recent meeting in June 2012, the International Volcanic Ash Task Force (IVATF) recommended that StormCenter’s technology for real-time data sharing and collaboration be adopted for further evaluation to become the global technology for volcanic ash collaborative decision support.
Impacts from volcanic eruptions can be significant. There were several severe impacts from a series of eruptions from Mount Redoubt in March-April 2009 as described in the official NWS assessment and included partially here. Two major lahars (mudflows) moved down the Drift River and partially inundated an oil terminal. Airborne ash clouds posed a hazard to aviation and caused multiple flight cancellations and reroutes. Alaska Airlines cancelled approximately 200 flights. FedEx, United Parcel Service and several other cargo airlines rerouted aircraft to Seattle. Ash fall forced Ted Stevens International Airport in Anchorage to close for 20 consecutive hours. Disruption to the aviation industry was significant for passenger travel and cargo transportation between Asia and North America. Minor ash fall impacted several communities as far downwind as Delta Junction, Alaska, 400 miles northeast of Anchorage. Elmendorf Air Force Base assets were temporarily relocated. There were also impacts to oil field operations due to the cessation of oil storage at Chevron’s Drift River Oil Terminal. Cost figures for the total economic impact of this event were not available at the time of this report. However, the economic impact is estimated to be less than or equal to the cost of the impact from the 1989-1990 Mount Redoubt event (estimated at $160 million).
A joint NOAA/NASA satellite is one of several satellites providing valuable information to aviators about volcanic hazards. An aviation “orange” alert was posted on August 18, 2014, for Bárðarbunga, a stratovolcano located under the Vatnajökull glacier in Iceland, indicating the “volcano shows heightened or escalating unrest with increased potential of eruption.”
Much of the information leading to that alert came from satellites including Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument on board the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)/NASA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP).
NOAA’s polar satellites are critical for a variety of “nowcasting” capabilities in addition to volcanic ash including imagery to monitor storms, fog, sea ice, and other dangerous weather and environmental conditions as well as providing data for more accurate weather forecasting to secure a more ‘Weather-Ready Nation’ thereby saving lives and protecting property.
The MODIS instrument aboard NASA’s Terra satellite captured this view of the eruption Iceland’s Bárdarbunga Volcano on Sept. 5, 2014. The red outline indicates heat. A plume of gas and steam is blowing east.
More on Volcanoes:
Know your Hazards: The First Step in Preparedness
Bizarre Weather
Glossary of Preparedness Terms – Our Lexicon of Prepper, Government and Survivalist Terminology, Slang and Phrases
Preparedness for all Calamities – Stay Strong and Survive!
Could there really be a volcano season?
The Earth seems to have been smoking a lot recently. Volcanoes are currently erupting in Iceland, Hawaii, Indonesia and Mexico. Others, in the Philippines and Papua New Guinea, erupted recently but seem to have calmed down. And then there was the fatal eruption in Japan. Many of these have threatened homes and forced evacuations. But among their less-endangered spectators, these eruptions may have raised a question: Is there such a thing as a season for volcanic eruptions?
Surprisingly, this may be a possibility. While volcano “seasons” aren’t anything like the four we’re familiar with, scientists have started to discern intriguing patterns in their activity.
Eruptions caused by a shortened day
The four seasons are caused by the Earth’s axis of rotation tilting towards and away from the Sun. But our planet undergoes another, less well-known change, one that affects it in a more subtle way—perhaps even volcanically.
Mount St. Helens
Mount St. Helens is an active stratovolcano located in Skamania County, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is 96 miles south of Seattle, Washington, and 50 miles northeast of Portland, Oregon. Wikipedia
Last eruption: July 10, 2008
Image Source: National Geographic
By Jeff Sorensen on Oct 10, 2014 at 4:20 PM
In May 1980, the world gasped at the eruption of Mount St. Helens, which was one of the largest volcano eruptions in America in the past half-century. The May 18, 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens had a significant impact on the weather and the surrounding landscape of the region for years. Most of us have only seen images from the ground, but now you can see what the incredible eruption looked like from space.
This spectacular imagery comes from the GOES-1 weather satellite and gives us views that show the real effects volcanos have. It shows Mount St. Helens eruption spreading to the north into eastern Washington, Idaho and Montana.
The first GOES-1 weather satellite GIF loop shows the eruption through visible light.
The second GOES-1 weather satellite GIF loop shows the eruption in infrared.
As you can see, an eruption of this scale will spread pretty quickly throughout the surrounding states.
Here are some specifics of the Mount St. Helens eruption thanks to The News Tribune: “A 5.1-magnitude earthquake a mile beneath the summit triggers the largest landslide in recorded history, followed by a lateral blast and mudflow that leveled 230 square miles of forest, killed 57 people and caused billions of dollars in property damage. An ash plume reached 80,000 feet in less than 10 minutes and the ash fallout covered 22,000 square miles.”
Due to factors like the gravitational pull of the Sun and Moon, the speed at which the Earth rotates constantly changes. Accordingly the length of a day actually varies from year to year. The difference is only in the order of milliseconds, but new research suggests that this seemingly small perturbation could bring about significant changes on our planet—or more accurately, within it.
In February 2014, a study in the journal Terra Nova showed that, since the early 19th century, changes in the Earth’s rotation rate tended to be followed by increases in global volcanic activity. It found that, between 1830 and 2013, the longest period for which a reliable record was available, relatively large changes in rotation rate were immediately followed by an increase in the number of large volcanic eruptions. And, more than merely being correlated, the authors believe that the rotation changes might actually have triggered these large eruptions.
Altering the spin of a planet, even by a small amount, requires a huge amount of energy. It has been estimated that changes in the Earth’s rotation rate dissipate around 120,000 petajoules of energy each year—enough to power the United States for the same length of time. This energy is transferred into the Earth’s atmosphere and subsurface. And it is this second consequence that the Terra Nova authors believe could affect volcanoes.
The vast quantities of energy delivered to the subsurface by rotation changes are likely to perturb its stress field. And, since the magma that feeds volcanic eruptions resides in the Earth’s crust, stress variations there may make it easier for the liquid rock to rise to the surface, and thereby increase the rate of volcanic eruptions.
The Terra Nova study is far from conclusive. Nevertheless, the idea that minute changes to the Earth’s spin could affect volcanic motions deep within the planet is an intriguing one.
But there’s another natural phenomenon which has a much stronger claim to affect volcanic activity—one which might be just as surprising: climate change.
Eruptions caused by climate change
In recent decades, it has become apparent that the consequences of planetary ice loss might not end with rising sea levels. Evidence has been building that in the past, periods of severe loss of glaciers were followed by a significant spike in volcanic activity.
Around 19,000 years ago, glaciation was at a peak, and much of Europe and North America was under ice. Then the climate warmed, and the glaciers began to recede. The effect on the planet was generally quite favourable for humankind. But, since the mid-1970s, a number of studies have suggested that, as the ice vanished, volcanic eruptions became much more frequent. A 2009 study, for example, concluded that between 12,000 and 7,000 years ago, the global level of volcanic activity rose by up to six times. During roughly the same period the rate of volcanic activity in Iceland soared to at least 30 times today’s level.
There is supporting evidence from continental Europe, North America and Antarctica that volcanic activity also increased after earlier deglaciation cycles. Bizarrely, then, volcanic activity seems—at least sometimes—to rise and fall with ice levels. But why? Again, this strange effect might be down to stress.
Eruptions cause by the melting of ice
Ice sheets are heavy.They are so heavy, in fact, that as they grow, they cause the Earth’s crust to bend, much like a plank of wood does when placed under weight. The corollary of this is that, when an ice sheet melts and its mass is removed, the crust springs back. This upward flexing can lead to a drop in stress in the underlying rocks, which, the idea goes, makes it easier for magma to reach the surface and feed volcanic eruptions.
The link between climate change and volcanism is still poorly understood. Many volcanoes do not seem to have been affected by it. Nor is it a particularly pressing concern today, even though we face a future of vanishing ice. It can take thousands of years after the glaciers melt for volcanic activity to rise.
Yet while it may not be an immediate hazard, this strange effect is a reminder that our planet can respond to change in unforeseen ways. Contrary to their brutish reputation, volcanoes are helping scientists understand just how sensitive our planet can be.
This article was originally published on The Conversation.