How do Volcanoes impact Humans?
Volcanoes impact and effect humans in a both negative and positive way, although there are more negatives than positives.
A negative impact of volcanic eruptions on humans is that the roads, buildings and houses can be covered in ash after an eruption, which can make them collapse (“How Do Volcanoes Affect People?”, 2013). When the ash is really heavy, it also makes the air impossible to breathe. Another negative impact of volcanic eruptions on humans is that the pyroclastic flows are really fast (and go farther than lava) and it will kill a person immediately if they are caught in one (“How Do Volcanoes Affect People?”, 2013). Many people are impacted by volcanic eruptions even after the eruptions have ended because they have no home to go back too and no food or work either. In 1815, when the Tambora volcano erupted , an additional 80,000 people died because they lost their crops and died of starvation (“How Do Volcanoes Affect People?”, 2013).
A positive of living next to a volcano is that volcanic ash contains many minerals, which produce very rich and fertile soils, perfect for farming (“Effect of volcanoes”, 2013).
Predicting Eruptions
Scientists have developed several ways and methods to predict eruptions but they aren't very precise. Often, it is just a false alert, but it's better safe then sorry. Scientists use many tools, like a seismometer, a tiltometer and a GPS to predict eruptions.
Before an eruption, the magma moves to the magma chamber, which causes small earthquakes (“Volcanoes – Forecasting”, 2013). Scientists use seismometers that detect the earthquakes caused by the magma and the more earthquakes there are, the more chance that there will be an eruption (“Volcanoes – Forecasting”, 2013). When the magma moves, it also releases gases and scientists use instruments that can “sniff” these gases to see if the magma is moving or not (“Predicting Volcanoes”, 2013). Scientists also use a tiltometer that uses a sensor beam to detect the changes in the ground elevation (“Predicting Volcanoes”, 2013). The ground elevation changes when the magma levels rise.
There are many other techniques to predict volcanic eruptions. Scientists keep studying volcanoes that erupt in hope to discover more precise ways of predicting eruptions in order to save the lives of people.