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Section 2: Volcanic and seismic geohazards |
Benfield Greig Hazard Research Centre, Department of Geological Sciences, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E6BT, UK
Over the past century, a range of volcanic hazards, particularly pyroclastic flows and debris flows, have claimed over 60000 lives, and between 1980 and 1990 alone, have detrimentally affected the day-to-day lives of over 600 000 people. Although a battery of mitigation measures are now available to reduce the impact of volcanic hazards, rapidly increasing populations near active volcanoes in the developing world will ensure increasing vulnerability to hazardous volcanogenic phenomena into the next millenium, and new initiatives are required to prevent a contemporaneous rise in the numbers of volcanic disasters. Alongside increased monitoring, partly through improved satellite observations, a programme of public education and training is needed to ensure that both civil authorities and local populations are able to respond rapidly and appropriately to a developing volcanic emergency. This in turn requires greater focus on improved communication between scientists and the responsible civil authorities, and the formulation of workable contingency plans based upon reliable and informed scientific opinion.
