A MOST VIOLENT YEAR
With Italy’s iconic Etna volcano erupting at the beginning of the year, followed by the lava flows of La Palma making headlines for weeks in autumn, then activity starting at Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai in late December, it felt like 2021 was a particularly big year for the planet’s volcanoes.
When we look at the statistics, however, we see that this level of volcanic activity is nothing special. In 2021, 80 eruptions occurred at 75 volcanoes, with 32 new eruptions recorded. This is pretty much par for the course, and looking at the year-on-year figures for the past few decades, there is no indication that volcanic activity is increasing.
Still, the volcanoes of 2021 seemed to capture the attention of the world’s media, and blew our minds at a time when much of the world was still reeling in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic, reminding us once again of the awesome power of nature.
