professor david cope director parliamentary office of science and technology (post) united kingdom...
TRANSCRIPT
Professor David Cope
Director
Parliamentary Office ofScience and Technology (POST)
United Kingdom ParliamentWestminster, England
The Devastation of the Loveliest of
Lands
Presentation to STOA Workshop on Avoiding Ash Disruptions, Brussels, 23rd June 2010
Is Iceland the only problem?
Laacher See, Eifel, Germany ~13,000 BP
Chaîne des Puys , Massif Central, France ~4000 BP
Parícutin , Mexico, 1943-52
Sakurajima volcano and Kagoshima City, Japan
Is “fire and ice” a lethal combination?
Future Eruptions?
LakagigarCraterChain,Iceland
“Supervolcanoes”
Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland 2010 0.25km3
Mt St Helens, WashingtonUSA 1980 1.3km3
Mt Pinatubo, Philippines 1991 10km3
Tambora, Indonesia 1815 160 km3
Toba, Indonesia 70,000 BP 800 km3
What are the warnings?
Volcano hazard assessment always fails to answer the one question raised most frequently ... namely, when and where the volcano will erupt next.
In the absence of volcanic or seismic unrest, scientists can offer only statistical information — probabilities — about future volcanism.
US Geological Survey
Thanks to:
Carina Fearnley, University College LondonDavid Pyle and Tamsin Mather, University of Oxford
And to you for listening