A team of EU-funded scientists is studying Indonesia’s Merapi volcano, which started erupting on 26 October and has taken the lives of over 30 people. As well as monitoring the eruption, the team is also examining civil protection efforts in the region and investigating the impacts of the eruption on the local economy and the communities. The scientists are part of the MIA-VITA (‘Mitigate and assess risk from volcanic impact on terrain and human activities’) project, which is funded to the tune of EUR 3.5 million under the Environment Theme of the EU’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). Some 500 million people worldwide are at risk from volcanoes, and protecting them is a challenge even in wealthy countries. Developing countries face particular difficulties in managing the risk. For example, they may lack the scientific and/or financial resources to monitor all their active volcanoes sufficiently. Furthermore, many people live on the slopes of volcanoes, attracted by the cheap, readily available and fertile land. If the volcano only erupts rarely, both authorities and communities may underestimate the risk posed. Read More
