Environment

Volcanic Eruption Shuts 8 Indonesian Airports, Strands 150K

Is climate change stirring up volcanic eruptions or is tectonic clockwork simply being watched more closely than ever?

Published 1 hour ago

Volcanic Eruption Shuts 8 Indonesian Airports, Strands 150K

Story

Above: Ash plume rises from Anak Krakatau Volcano, Indonesia, on Sept. 2. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

The Spin

Climate-concerned narrative

Volcanoes and the climate are locked in a two-way street, and pretending otherwise ignores the research. Melting ice caps, shifting sea levels and the extreme rainfall that a warming world keeps supercharging have all been tied to eruption rates, dyke injections and collapsing lava domes. Heating the planet while sitting on 1,500 potentially active volcanoes is a gamble worth taking seriously.

Impakter

Climate-skeptic narrative

Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where subducting plates melt into magma and blow their tops on a geological clock that runs for centuries. Eruptions are independent of anything humans do to the atmosphere, and volcanic gases amount to less than 1% of greenhouse gas emissions. What looks like a scary surge is just better monitoring and louder social media coverage of a routine cycle.

India Today