Huge volcanic eruptions: time to prepare

4 min read Original article ↗
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More must be done to forecast and try to manage globally disruptive volcanic eruptions. The risks are greater than people think.

By

  1. Michael Cassidy

    1. Michael Cassidy is an associate professor of volcanology at the University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.

  2. Lara Mani

    1. Lara Mani is a research associate at the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, University of Cambridge, UK.

Three people wearing gold vests that read 'Tonga geological services' watch the eruption from a boat

Tonga Geological Services staff making observations of the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha‘apai volcano. Credit: Tonga Geological Services/ZUMA/Alamy

The massive eruption of the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha‘apai volcano this January in Tonga, in the south Pacific Ocean, was the volcanic equivalent of a ‘near miss’ asteroid whizzing by the Earth. The eruption was the largest since Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines blew in 1991, and the biggest explosion ever recorded by instruments.

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Nature 608, 469-471 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-02177-x

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Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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