There’s news about it this week, so let’s climb this spectacular Kiwi volcano (that most of us in the Northern Hemisphere have never heard of) and check it out.
We’ll start with a video that uses the “safety first” approach, followed by one of trampers (New Zealand for “hikers”) going through most of those described features.
Seriously, it’s a killer.
The news is that Taranaki might erupt more frequently than once thought.
This matters because Taranaki is an explosive volcano and the region is densely populated and economically important to the nation.
Experts might only get 24 hours’ warning of an eruption that could drop ash on much of the country.
But there is another hazard here, one that can occur without warning: Mount Taranaki (formerly known as Mount Egmont) falls down a lot.
Gorgeous, but also very dangerous.
More information:
- Global Volcanism Program page
- GeoNet
- GNS Science fact sheet (PDF)
- Wikipedia
A little lagniappe:
Aaah. So nice. The people here must be very peaceful —
What’s actually going on.
Er. I forgot: volcanoes. Go! H. sapiens, in your eternal battle against them!
Featured image: Image by chris Nicholls from Pixabay
Flight To Wonder 