volcanism and society

Hope no one minds my shameless plug here, but I get a lot of questions about books to read if you're interested in learning about volcanoes. There are an awful lot of good books out there and we can add one more to that list: Volcanoes: Global Perspectives" by Jack Lockwood and Rick Hazlett. I've been able to go through the book and it covers almost everything a volcanophile would want to know about volcanism on Earth and in the solar system - including some information I didn't know (which isn't a big surprise). It is written as a textbook for advanced undergraduates, but as along as you…

Shiveluch in Kamchatka in an undated photo. Just a quick note, but I got this email overnight regarding the status of KVERT, the Kamchatka-Kuril Island volcano monitoring body in Russia. Scientists of KVERT Project return to the full KVERT operations (the information ensuring of air services for the results of daily analysis and evaluation of activity of Kamchatka and Northern Kuriles volcanoes) and will discharge these obligations for 01 February - 30 April 2010. So, after losing their funding, it has some back until the end of April (based on how I read this). Russian politics as usual?…

Tungurahua erupting in an undated AP photo (although I think it is the current 2010 activity.) It hasn't really made it to much of the English-speaking news, but the current eruptive activity at Tungurahua appears to be on the up-tick. Hugo Yepes of the Geophysical Institute of Ecuador suggests that a larger eruption is not out of the question (link in spanish), but right now the activity is confined to explosions (vulcanian?) and ash fall around the region, specifically on Pillates and Choglontus overnight (2/1) from the ~ 2 km / 5 000 foot plume. Looking at the specifics (link in spanish…