Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Chapter 1 Understanding the physical behavior of volcanoes
- Chapter 2 Volcano hazards
- Chapter 3 Anticipating volcanic eruptions
- Chapter 4 Volcanoes and the geological cycle
- Chapter 5 Effects of volcanic eruptions on the atmosphere and climate
- Chapter 6 Volcanoes, hydrothermal venting, and the origin of life
- Chapter 7 Volcanism and mass extinctions
- Chapter 8 Effects of modern volcanic eruptions on vegetation
- Chapter 9 Animals and volcanoes: survival and revival
- Chapter 10 Human impacts of volcanoes
- Chapter 11 Volcanoes, geothermal energy, and the environment
- Chapter 12 Volcano-hosted ore deposits
- Chapter 13 Industrial uses of volcanic materials
- Chapter 14 Volcanoes, society, and culture
- Chapter 15 Volcanoes and the economy
- Index
- References
Chapter 2 - Volcano hazards
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 November 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Chapter 1 Understanding the physical behavior of volcanoes
- Chapter 2 Volcano hazards
- Chapter 3 Anticipating volcanic eruptions
- Chapter 4 Volcanoes and the geological cycle
- Chapter 5 Effects of volcanic eruptions on the atmosphere and climate
- Chapter 6 Volcanoes, hydrothermal venting, and the origin of life
- Chapter 7 Volcanism and mass extinctions
- Chapter 8 Effects of modern volcanic eruptions on vegetation
- Chapter 9 Animals and volcanoes: survival and revival
- Chapter 10 Human impacts of volcanoes
- Chapter 11 Volcanoes, geothermal energy, and the environment
- Chapter 12 Volcano-hosted ore deposits
- Chapter 13 Industrial uses of volcanic materials
- Chapter 14 Volcanoes, society, and culture
- Chapter 15 Volcanoes and the economy
- Index
- References
Summary
Introduction
Not only do “Volcanoes assail the senses …” (Decker and Decker, 1997, p. vii), but they also assail the environment when they erupt, terrifying and fascinating humankind for countless millennia. Volcanic processes and products – beneficial and hazardous – have profoundly impacted and continue to impact society (Chester, 1993, Chapter 14, this volume).
It is estimated that about 10% of the world's population live within proximity of active and potentially active volcanoes. With projected population growth, by the twenty-first century more than 500 million people could be at risk from volcano hazards (Peterson, 1986; Tilling and Lipman, 1993). Of these half billion people at risk, roughly equal to the estimated entire world population at the beginning of the seventeenth century, about 90% live in the circum-Pacific region. Also in the twenty-first century, with continued increasing urbanization there will be more than 100 cities with greater than 2 million population, and many of these will be located within 200 km of volcanically active subduction zones (McGuire, 1995a, Fig. 15.1).
Over 1500 subaerial volcanoes have been active during the Holocene (i.e., the past 10,000 years), and more than a third of these have erupted one or more times during recorded history (Simkin and Siebert, 1994). Active or potentially active volcanoes occur in narrow belts that collectively comprise less than 1% of the Earth's total surface area, dotting the divergent and convergent boundaries between the tectonic plates and above well-documented intraplate “hot spots,” such as Hawaii and the Galapagos (Simkin et al., 1994).
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- Information
- Volcanoes and the Environment , pp. 55 - 89Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2005
References
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