Impacts of Volcanoes

Destruction

• Violent volcanic eruptions spew hot liquid magma out into the environment. This magma either rolls down the side of the volcano or flies through the air. The incredibly hot lava destroys everything in its path, including villages, crops, buildings and people. Ash, which is the result of lava cooling, settles everywhere, smothering plants and burying cities. Mudflows, which are the result of ash combining with water, can reach speeds of 60 miles an hour and can travel nearly 200 miles from the volcano, causing even more damage and destruction.

Geothermal Energy

• Heat produced by the volcano turns into steam in the presence of liquid. Geothermal energy in the form of steam can be harvested from active volcanoes using specially designed power stations. The steam collected from the volcanoes powers turbines that produce energy. Even steam from relatively young volcanoes can be harvested and used for heating and industrial purposes. Many areas rich in volcanoes are already using this technology to provide power to nearby homes.

Farmlands

• Over time, hardened lava breaks down, adding nutrients to the soil like a fertilizer. The soil beneath the lava is enriched with minerals released from the volcano in the lava. These minerals give the crops grown in these regions their distinctive taste. Italy grows grapes and citrus near several of its volcanoes and Costa Rican coffee gets its unique flavor from the farmland surrounding its volcanoes.

Metals, Minerals and Gemstones

• Volcanoes bring metals, minerals and gemstones from deep within the Earth's crust to the surface, which allows humans to recover these precious materials without having to mine for them. Diamonds, rubies, gold, silver and iron are examples of materials that can be mined in the hardened lava following a volcano eruption. Mining minerals, metals and gemstones in lava aids in the breakdown of the lava, which speeds up the process of fertilizing the land for future crops.