Volcano eruption

Ladies and gentlemen,

My name is Cazacu Bianca Adelina and today I will talk about the volcano eruptions.

A volcano is a fissure in the planet's crust through which lava, ash, rock and gases erupt. Volcanoes have
existed for a long time on Earth, likely causing disasters such as the Permian mass extinction about 300
million years ago, the greatest mass extinction in Earth's history.But they have existed on other worlds as
well: although volcanoes on the moon and Mars have long been dormant, volcanoes are still very active
on Jupiter's moon,Io.

When thick magma and large amounts of gas build up under the surface, eruptions can be explosive,
expelling lava, rocks and ash into the air.The mountain-like mounds that we associate with volcanoes are
what remain after the material spilt during eruptions has collected and hardened around the opening. This
can happen over a period of weeks or many millions of years.

A large eruption can be dangerous for people living near a volcano. Flows of lava, which can reach 3,000
degrees Celsius, can be released, burning everything in their path.Ash and toxic gases can cause lungs
damage and other problems, particularly for infants and the elderly.

One of the largest volcano eruptions took place 2 million years ago in Indonesia,on the Sumatra
Island.The volcano Toba expelled 3000 cubic kilometers of lava-equivalent to double volume of Mount
Everest.The volcanic eruption threw huge clouds of ash and sulphuric acid into the stratosphere,from
where it spread across the entire globe in both the northern and southern hemispheres and fell down as
acid rain.These clouds formed a blanket which acted as a shild for the sun’s radiation,causing Earth to
cool. Researchers has shown that such enormous eruption could cause a cooling of up to 10 degrees in
the global temperature for decades.The eruption affected the Homo sapiens living as far as 2000 km away
in eastern India.

Another famous volcano eruption,took place in AD 79,when Mount Vesuvius erupted,burrying the whole
city of Pompeii.The people and buildings of Pompeii were covered in up to 12 different layers of ashes,
which rained down for about six hours.Today the city has UNESCO World Heritage status.People visiting
the site can admire the streets and also the statues,especially the notorious hugging couple who was
covered in ash.

The majestic images offered by the show of eruption made people to add a cultural note to this mass
distructive phenomena.For instance,in the Hawaiian mythology,exists a diety who’s name is Pele and is
the protector of volcanoes. Her home is believed to be the fire pit called Halemaʻumaʻu crater, one of the
Earth's most active volcanoes.Vulganoligists also named some types of lava after her,including Pele’s
hair,which can be defined as thin strands of volcanic glass,similar to human hair.

To sum up,the volcanic eruptions,although very fascinating,are also very dangerous for both human life
and the enviroment.