The White Island, otherwise known as Whakaari Island, is a stratovolcano. These volcanoes can erupt explosively due to the highly viscous (sticky) lava. It erupted on Monday 9 December 30 miles off the coast of New Zealand when 47 tourists were visiting for ‘volcano tourism’. New Zealand are still in the response stage of the Hazard Management Cycle.
Read the article on ‘What We Know So Far’. Five people have been confirmed as dead and a further 8 are missing. Read the summary to find out more.
What is ‘volcano tourism’? How many people visit volcanoes per year? Read this article. What are the dangers?
Why was it a ‘Chernobyl–like experience’? Watch this film and find out.
Go to Australian ABC News and view their storymap to get the full picture.
What is planned for Friday 13 December? Read the article and understand who will be risking their lives, and for what.
What descriptors could you use for each photo in the Gallery? What does Professor Burton say about visitor numbers?
Read How safe is Volcano Tourism? Choose 2 countries from the list and consider how safe the activity of volcano tourism is for tourists.
Listen to our RGS-IBG podcast. How do we perceive a hazard that might effect us? Listen to our podcast by Professor Esther Eidinow to understand how risk is socially constructed. Is it fate, luck or fortune?
Watch our RGS-IBG Hazard talk: Our School Member lecture by Dr. Amy Donovan on Hazard Management in New Zealand.
What do the current alert levels mean? There are signs that the White Island volcano still has high gas and fluid pressures within the volcano. Understand more by accessing this article.
Want to know more but don’t know where to start with the RGS-IBG academic journals? Try our intermediary platform Geography Directions. You can also click here to improve your subject knowledge on volcano tourism in Fiji.
Now time for some math. There have been only five category 4 or above VEI eruptions in 2019, White Island being one of them. Work out the average number of eruptions per month. Can you calculate the frequency of these dangerous eruptions?