Darby
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VolcanoesS
QUESTION: Marty, Your computer warned that we would be heading into global cooling, not warming. But you also warned that we would see increased volcanic activity and the risk of a volcanic winter. Well, this has been the coldest winter I can remember. With Mt Spurr stirring, another offshore from California, and some hinting at Yellowstone erupting, do you have any update on this aspect from Socrates?
Darby
ANSWER: Nothing has changed. We are heading into a more active volcano period, and that does raise the risk of a volcanic winter in which crops fail, and there will be a shortage of food. I still recommend that you stockpile two years' worth of food. It is not that you will save money, but that the supply may be seriously diminished. Our models of Wheat warn that this year is the Directional Change, and we can see a shortage into 2028.
Darby
The volcano has reportedly been erupting continuously for several days, News.Az reports, citing Xinhua.
"Deep volcanic earthquakes have increased significantly. This indicates that the intensity of magma activity in Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki's magma chamber is rising and moving toward shallower depths," said Muhammad Wafid, head of the geology agency at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.
The agency has urged the public to remain alert and avoid the 6 km radius danger zone. It also advised heightened vigilance in a 7 km extended danger zone in the southwestern and northeastern sectors due to the increased risk of sudden and hazardous phreatic eruptions.
Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki is one of Indonesia's 127 active volcanoes.
At approximately 3,300 meters high, the lava flow is still seeping from a crack that formed on the southern slope of the "Bocca Nuova" crater on Saturday evening.
The National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology of Catania located the emission of lava at an estimated altitude of about 3,000 metres above sea level between the base of the Bocca Nuova crater and the South-East crater.
According to volcanologists, the current eruption is a typical sub-terminal eruption as it comes from a fracture and not from one of the main craters.
The 3,330-metre-high volcano is the tallest in Europe, and is believed to have the longest documented history of eruptions among all volcanoes, with records dating back to 425 B.C.
This marks the volcano's 22nd explosive eruption of 2025, adding to its intense activity.
Witnesses also reported a rare display of volcanic lightning, illuminating the darkened skies as the eruption unfolded.
How bad can a solar storm be? Just ask a tree. Unlike human records, which go back hundreds of years, trees can remember solar storms for millennia.
Nagoya University doctoral student Fusa Miyake made the discovery in 2012 while studying rings in the stump of a 1900-year-old Japanese cedar. One ring, in particular, drew her attention. Grown in the year 774-75 AD, it contained a 12% jump in radioactive carbon-14 (14C), about 20 times greater than ordinary fluctuations from cosmic radiation. Other teams confirmed the spike in wood from Germany, Russia, the United States, Finland, and New Zealand. Whatever happened, trees all over the world experienced it.
Most researchers think it was a solar storm — an extraordinary one. Often, we point to the Carrington Event of 1859 as the worst-case scenario for solar storms. The 774-75 AD storm was at least 10 times stronger; if it happened today, it would floor modern technology. Since Miyake's initial discovery, she and others have confirmed five more examples (12,450 BC, 7176 BC, 5259 BC, 664-663 BC, 993 AD). Researchers call them "Miyake Events."
© Spaceweather
Most researchers think it was a solar storm — an extraordinary one. Often, we point to the Carrington Event of 1859 as the worst-case scenario for solar storms. The 774-75 AD storm was at least 10 times stronger; if it happened today, it would floor modern technology. Since Miyake's initial discovery, she and others have confirmed five more examples (12,450 BC, 7176 BC, 5259 BC, 664-663 BC, 993 AD). Researchers call them "Miyake Events."
© Available under Creative Commons 4.0 license from Solid Earth (https://doi.org/10.5194/se-15-1365-2024) and edited by Renas KoshnawMap of the northern Middle East showing the Arabian and Eurasian plates and their collision zone, as well as the study area, the Kurdistan region of Iraq.
When two continents converge over millions of years, the oceanic floor between them slides to great depths beneath the continents. Eventually, the continents collide, and masses of rock from their edges are lifted up into towering mountain ranges. Over millions of years, the immense weight of these mountains causes the Earth's surface around them to bend downward. Over time, sediments eroded from the mountains accumulate in this depression, forming plains such as Mesopotamia in the Middle East. The researchers modelled the downward bend of the Earth's surfaces based on the Zagros Mountain's load where the Arabian continent is colliding with Eurasia. They combined the resulting size of the depression with the computed topography based on the Earth's mantle to reproduce the unusually deep depression in the southeastern segment of the study area. The researchers found that the weight of the mountains alone cannot account for the 3-4 km deep depression that has formed and been filled with sediment over the past 15 million years.
Dramatic timelapse footage captured the ash cloud shooting from the volcano's crater more than 6,500 feet into the air over surrounding towns.
This is the volcano's 15th eruption this year - authorities are monitoring the situation closely.
© Mario Tama
Kilauea, one of the most active volcanoes in the world, is located on the Big Island of Hawaii. It has been erupting intermittently for decades, with its most recent significant activity occurring in 2018. The current eruption is being closely monitored by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and local authorities to ensure public safety.
The lava flows are primarily contained within the volcano's summit caldera, minimizing the immediate threat to nearby communities. However, residents and visitors are advised to stay informed and heed any warnings or advisories issued by officials.
The eruption has also sparked interest among scientists, who are studying the volcanic activity to better understand the processes driving Kilauea's eruptions. This research could provide valuable insights into volcanic behavior and improve future eruption predictions.
As the situation develops, authorities will continue to monitor the eruption and provide updates to ensure the safety of those on the island.
Ibu erupted on Wednesday (January 15) morning for about two minutes, Indonesia's volcanology agency said, forcing authorities to raise the alert level in the surrounding areas to the most severe.
The evacuations started late on Wednesday for about 3,000 residents around the area who were being prioritized due to their proximity to the volcano, Abdul Muhari, a spokesperson for the country's disaster mitigation agency, told Reuters.
Ibu's activities follow a series of eruptions of different volcanoes in Indonesia, which sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" and has 127 active volcanoes.
