Climate change likely to trigger frequent and severe volcanic eruption

When Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano erupted in 2018, extreme rainfall could never have been an estimated cause of it. But a study by Nature in 2020 showed otherwise. According to a new review paper in the Bulletin of Volcanology the geosphere and hydrosphere are complexly interrelated components of the Earth’s system.

Jamie Farquharson, a research engineer at the University of Strasbourg and Falk Amelung, a professor at the University of Miami, have examined 1,234 volcanoes over the last 11,700 years or the Holocene period, the current geological epoch. Out of these, 1 in every 7 volcanic eruptions was linked to rainfall events like Karkar in Papua New Guinea, Guagua Pichincha in Ecuador and Karangetang volcanoes in Indonesia all of which erupted violently. An increase in global warming could increase this to about 700 volcanoes globally.

Rainfall is projected to rise in several volcanic regions like South America, Caribbean and Indonesia. Heavy rain shakes the rocks that cover the lava dome and make it easier for the viscous magma to seep through the cracks in the vent. So, apart from destabilising slopes and causing landslides, heavy rainfall can also potentially cause a volcanic eruption.

Another 2016 study has said that rapid deglacialisation can lead to magma release as well. A glacier pushes the crust down to the mantle. So when the weight of the glacier is removed, the crust ‘floats’ upwards again.

Researchers suggested that there is a need to amplify efforts on climate-volcano impacts, which will enable better preparedness against consequences on the economy and society at large.

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