are volcanoes helpful or harmful?
231873
Volcanic materials ultimately break down and weather to form some of the most fertile soils on Earth, cultivation of which has produced abundant food and fostered civilizations. The internal heat associated with young volcanic systems has been harnessed to produce geothermal energy.
776900
Major health threats from a volcanic eruption The most common cause of death from a volcano is suffocation. Volcanic eruptions can result in additional threats to health, such as floods, mudslides, power outages, drinking water contamination, and wildfires.
640268
Volcanoes erupt when molten rock called magma rises to the surface. Magma is formed when the earth's mantle melts. ... If magma is thick, gas bubbles cannot easily escape and pressure builds up as the magma rises. When the pressure is too much an explosive eruption can happen, which can be dangerous and destructive.
323852
Gaseous emissions from an erupting volcano can suffocate, poison, or induce health problems among humans and animals. ... Lastly, large amounts of volcanic ash repeatedly ejected into the atmosphere can disrupt the weather, reduce visibility, and cause harmful effects upon air travel.
1221444
Volcanic eruptions can affect climate in two main ways. First, they release the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, contributing to warming of the atmosphere. But the effect is very small. Emissions from volcanoes since 1750 are thought to be at least 100 times smaller than those from fossil fuel burning.
77541
Mount Vesuvius is considered to be one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world because of its proximity to the city of Naples and the surrounding towns on the nearby slopes. The volcano is classed as a complex stratovolcano because its eruptions typically involve explosive eruptions as well as pyroclastic flows.
931192
The gases and dust particles thrown into the atmosphere during volcanic eruptions have influences on climate. ... Volcanoes have also caused global warming over millions of years during times in Earth's history when extreme amounts of volcanism occurred, releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
215764
Volcanic eruptions can be extremely damaging to the environment, particularly because of a number of toxic gases possibly present in pyroclastic material. It typically consists mainly of water vapour, but it also contains carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide gas.
949986
Volcanoes form at Earth's surface whereas earthquakes originate from deeper within the crust. ... Volcanoes are formed by release of gas and magma. Earthquakes are caused by movement along a fault. Volcanoes lead to the formation of new rock whereas earthquakes simply cause waves which disturb the rock.
882091
In general, the more felsic the magma the greater the volatile content. So mafic/basaltic volcanoes are fairly quiescent, intermediate/andesitic volcanic eruptions are moderately explosive, and felsic/rhyolitic volcanoes may be extremely explosive.
1438144
While most volcanoes form along tectonic plate boundaries, mantle plumes and hot spots lead to their development as well. ... Because the hot spot is caused by mantle plumes that exist below the tectonic plates, as the plates move, the hot spot does not, and may create a chain of volcanoes on the Earth's surface.
748900
Earthquakes and volcanic activity are also evidence of plate tectonics. Divergent and convergent boundaries are both prone to frequent volcanic activity. Does the lava in volcanoes come straight from Earth's core? Earth's core is made of solid iron, not lava, so magma can come directly from the core.
740203
Volcanic activity has been a big part of the Earth's history, but only after the Earth's surface cooled to form the crust. Indirectly yes.
905440
A dormant volcano is an active volcano that is not erupting, but supposed to erupt again. ... Volcanoes are often covered with ash and debris. Because of this, stratovolcanoes are known for causing deadly mudslides (sometimes called lahars). These can be the result ofvolcanic activity, earthquakes, or even rainfall.
505599
Volcanoes can erupt in any season. It isn't the weather that causes or prevents a volcano from erupting.
899451
No! “Volcanoes are not, in any meaningful sense of the word, alive. Volcanoes are rocky structures formed by the ejection of molten rock through weak spots in the Earth's crust, according to Oregon State University. Apart from some of the gases they expel, they are primarily silicon-based, not carbon-based.”
1408419
But a caldera collapse can cause a sudden release of gas, which can explode up and outward, as seen in the big eruptions in recorded history. And the biggest danger is simply that the mountain is falling in on itself, which can trigger huge landslides or engulf entire regions.