Despite the risk, why do people continue to live near volcanoes

AS and A Level Geography

Despite the risk, why do people continue to live near volcanoes?

Living by a volcano could become a serious risk, pyroclastic flows, mud flows, lava and fire. Not an Ideal domestic location. Yet even with these high risks, people continue to live by volcanoes. People always think, “The volcano’s not going to erupt here; it’s not going to happen to me, I’m not going to die, it’s going to happen to other people.” But it sadly does happen to them sometimes.

In some cases, poverty is the reason why people continue to live near volcanoes; they have always lived there and do not have enough money to move. Once already living near a volcano, you would have a career, therefore it would not be easy to give up, once earning for your family. People who live there also have houses, and moving away from them is not a pleasant idea due to the fact of your home being a settlement of your own feelings and bought from your own wealth.

However, there are also positive consequences. Many peoples around the world continue to live near volcanoes because the eruptions produce wonderful soil for growing crops. Most of the surface of the North American continent itself was produced by the eruption of volcanoes over millions of years. The atmosphere of the Earth got much of its components from the eruption of volcanoes. Even tourism can be positively affected. Pompeii is a very popular tourist site because of the information preserved there by the eruption of Vesuvius.

For example, volcanic ash blown over thousands of square kilometers of land increases for ...

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However, there are also positive consequences. Many peoples around the world continue to live near volcanoes because the eruptions produce wonderful soil for growing crops. Most of the surface of the North American continent itself was produced by the eruption of volcanoes over millions of years. The atmosphere of the Earth got much of its components from the eruption of volcanoes. Even tourism can be positively affected. Pompeii is a very popular tourist site because of the information preserved there by the eruption of Vesuvius.

For example, volcanic ash blown over thousands of square kilometers of land increases for forests and agriculture by adding nutrients and acting as a mulch. Groundwater heated by large, still-hot magma bodies can be tapped for . Rising magma does not always reach the surface to erupt; instead it may slowly cool and harden beneath the volcano to form a wide variety of crystalline rocks some of these are copper, tin, gold, and silver, then getting mined into deposits throughout the world. As a result to volcanoes the produced minerals have helped to build airports, buildings, pathways and roads. In some volcanic areas, for example, Iceland, water is pumped down onto hot volcanic rocks and the super heated steam that is produced can then be used to heat homes or drive turbines this will then create electricity.

Mt. Etna’s slopes are covered with vineyards, prickly pear cactus, and almond trees. By the volcanic materials ultimately bread down to form some of the most on Earth. construction materials, as abrasive and cleaning agents, and as raw materials for many chemical and industrial uses.

Whilst living in these difficult conditions, the people near the volcanoes would find income due to tourism. Having a volcano would be a great source of income, due to many foreign tourists willing to see it. Produced from the volcanoes is hot springs ideal for the tourists, these visitors bring in money to the area and support businesses. Even with the tourist income, money is still low for the people.

Another way for people near volcanoes to earn money is oil and natural gas are the products of the deep burial and decomposition of accumulated organic material in geologic basins that flank mountain ranges formed by plate-tectonic processes. Heat and pressure at depth transform the decomposed organic material into tiny pockets of gas and liquid petroleum, which then migrate through the pore spaces and larger openings in the surrounding rocks and collect in reservoirs. All the oil could then be exported to a bigger country for money, the money could then help improve the safety of the volcanic location

Luckily for the worlds great technology the scientific techniques can improve, now people believe scientists will be able to give them warnings to evacuate their homes. These techniques include monitoring gases and using satellites to monitor heat. Therefore the people living near volcanoes can know in advance before the volcano erupts, then able to move away from the volcano, hopefully far enough not to affect them.