Extreme volcanism: Disaster risks and societal implications

TY - CHAP

T1 - Extreme volcanism

T2 - Disaster risks and societal implications

AU - Donovan, Amy

AU - Oppenheimer, Clive

PY - 2012/1/1

Y1 - 2012/1/1

N2 - Volcanic eruptions occur on Earth every day. Stromboli volcano in Sicily explodes roughly every eight minutes and has become an attraction for tourists. In a typical year, around 60 volcanoes erupt, though this figure includes continuously active volcanoes such as Stromboli, and excludes most eruptions on the sea floor (which are rarely observed). Some of the events may result in serious local impacts, or may disrupt aviation. There is a crude relationship between eruption magnitude and frequency: the larger the eruption, the rarer it is. While the largest magnitude eruptions are exceedingly rare, their impacts can be extreme. It has even been suggested that such eruptions provide a limit to the development of technologically advanced civilisations (Rampino, 2002), and that they have shaped the trajectory of human culture and society (e.g., Oppenheimer, 2011). The threat from volcanic eruptions has never been higher than at the start of the twenty-first century: the global population has reached seven billion and is growing rapidly towards an estimated ten-billion peak. At the same time, Western democracies, in particular, have become increasingly conscious of ‘risk’ (Beck, 1992; Jasanoff, 1999). Risk has come to dominate many areas of life, not least in association with new and emerging technologies such as nanotechnology and biotechnology. This has, among other things, perpetuated the increasing politicisation of science, as scientists are asked to be expert advisors to governments, as well as required to make their research socially relevant. It is increasingly clear that there are some risks, generated in part by modernisation, that require a global response - the key example being climate change, but others include risks of infectious disease, which can be more readily spread in a globalised world. There are complex feedbacks between technological development and increased risk - demonstrated dramatically by the 2010 eruption of EyjafjallajOkull in Iceland, a relatively small volcanic event that nevertheless resulted in chaos for global aviation (Donovan and Oppenheimer, 2011; Adey et al., 2011).

AB - Volcanic eruptions occur on Earth every day. Stromboli volcano in Sicily explodes roughly every eight minutes and has become an attraction for tourists. In a typical year, around 60 volcanoes erupt, though this figure includes continuously active volcanoes such as Stromboli, and excludes most eruptions on the sea floor (which are rarely observed). Some of the events may result in serious local impacts, or may disrupt aviation. There is a crude relationship between eruption magnitude and frequency: the larger the eruption, the rarer it is. While the largest magnitude eruptions are exceedingly rare, their impacts can be extreme. It has even been suggested that such eruptions provide a limit to the development of technologically advanced civilisations (Rampino, 2002), and that they have shaped the trajectory of human culture and society (e.g., Oppenheimer, 2011). The threat from volcanic eruptions has never been higher than at the start of the twenty-first century: the global population has reached seven billion and is growing rapidly towards an estimated ten-billion peak. At the same time, Western democracies, in particular, have become increasingly conscious of ‘risk’ (Beck, 1992; Jasanoff, 1999). Risk has come to dominate many areas of life, not least in association with new and emerging technologies such as nanotechnology and biotechnology. This has, among other things, perpetuated the increasing politicisation of science, as scientists are asked to be expert advisors to governments, as well as required to make their research socially relevant. It is increasingly clear that there are some risks, generated in part by modernisation, that require a global response - the key example being climate change, but others include risks of infectious disease, which can be more readily spread in a globalised world. There are complex feedbacks between technological development and increased risk - demonstrated dramatically by the 2010 eruption of EyjafjallajOkull in Iceland, a relatively small volcanic event that nevertheless resulted in chaos for global aviation (Donovan and Oppenheimer, 2011; Adey et al., 2011).

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84923479920&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1017/CBO9781139523905.006

DO - 10.1017/CBO9781139523905.006

M3 - Chapter

AN - SCOPUS:84923479920

SN - 9781139523905

SN - 9781107033863

SP - 29

EP - 46

BT - Extreme Natural Hazards, Disaster Risks and Societal Implications

PB - Cambridge University Press

ER -