Section 4 : What more can be done to reduce the negative impacts of a volcanic eruption.

Main question for this section:

What more can be done to reduce the negative effects of volcanic eruptions?

In recent years, with the eruptions of Mount St. Helens and Mount Pinatubo many advances have been made in the study of volcanoes particularily in eruption prediction. The problem with volcanoes is that, though there may be similarities between volcanoes, every volcano behaves differently and has its own set of hazards. That is why it's important for scientists to study and monitor volcanoes. Many active volcanoes near populated areas have not been sufficiently studied to assess risk.

When scientists study volcanoes, they map past volcanic deposits and use satellites to look at volcanic features, ash clouds, and gas emissions. They also monitor seismic activity, ground deformation, and geomagnetic, gravimetric, and geoelectrical and thermalchanges at a volcano.

They study and monitor volcanic gases and monitor the temperature, flow rate, sediment transport, and water level of streams and lakes near the volcano.

By studying volcanic deposits, scientists can produce hazard maps. These maps indicate the types of hazards that can be expected in a given area the next time a volcano erupts. Dating of these volcanic deposits helps determine how often an eruption may occur and the probability of an eruption each year.

Monitoring of a volcano over long periods of time will indicate changes in the volcano before it erupts. These changes can help in predicting when an eruption may occur.

Limiting hazardous effect of volcanic eruptions is restricted to evacuation and planned development based on the predictions made. Prediction is less possible for areas without much data or equipments for measuring the fault accumulated in strains.

Prediction of volcano eruptions has been more successful because the volcanoes would produce more signs of potential eruption before the actual event.

Volcanologist are able to make predictions through the close study of the volcanic gases emitted, the volcanic materials that are released by the vent, the tilt of the volcano, the acidity of the springs in the volcano, and the seismic activities. Prediction of the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the 1991 has been lauded as one of the most successful attempts at fore-telling the event.

Besides evacuating the residents around the volcano and modeling the eruptions in order to map the hazards that may be unleashed by the volcano, there are no engineering techniques that are able to reduce the negative effects the eruption may have on the area. Lava diversion have been attempted with varying success and not considered a reliable means of limiting the lava hazard of volcanic eruptions. The only means of limiting the hazardous effects is only to avoid the volcano by controlling developing and relocating people from the area.

As for volcanic eruptions, scientist have better chance of predicting them but less options of limiting the hazardous effects, they can only map the hazards and develop evacuation plans to reduce the casualties of these eruptions.