Top 5 Facts About Volcanoes

Volcanoes. They're terrifying, deadly, and will stop at nothing to destroy you, your town, and everyone you love, according to various disaster movies from the 90s. Welcome to Watchmojo’s top five facts. Today, we're counting down the five most explosive facts about volcanoes, one of Mother Nature's scariest creations.

Before we get to our own planet, let's travel into the vast blackness of space and visit Io, the innermost moon of Jupiter. Io is the most geologically active object in the entire Solar System, complete with over 400 volcanoes, some with rings the size of California. These volcanoes are insanely hot, with temperatures reaching 1800 K, or about 1,500 degrees Celsius. To put this in perspective, the ground around the volcanic vents literally sizzles from the immense heat. These plumes of sulfur and lava can rise over 300 miles into the air and can even be seen from Earth through the Hubble Space Telescope.

Ancient volcanic activity played a large role in shaping our planet into what it is and how it appears today. This 80% accounts for all of the Earth’s surface, including both above and below sea level. Gas emissions from volcanoes throughout millions and millions of years helped form Earth’s earliest oceans, and even its atmosphere, which, as you know, is kind of important for, like, life. Throughout the billions of years that Earth has existed, volcanic eruptions have also helped shape the planet’s landscape, including its plateaus, mountains, and gorgeous landscapes. Eruptions continue to crate land mass, in fact, as one did near Nishino-shima island from 2013 to 2015.

The idea of generating power using the heat of the Earth, called geothermal energy, is nothing new. So why not use the hottest parts of the Earth to do it? Officials are now viewing active volcanoes as potential sources of renewable energy, and efforts to harness their power are already well under way. Hawaii has ambitious plans to become 100% renewable by 2045, and they're planning on using their vast wealth of volcanoes to achieve that goal. Some question the safety of building a power plant on a volcano, but engineers insist that they’d be able to tell well in advance if an eruption was imminent. It’s probably worth the risk anyway; this new technology could provide 30% more power than the typical geothermal wells that we use today.

While it is true that most volcanoes take thousands of years to form, some actually do appear in the blink of an eye (at least in geological terms). Paricutin, a volcano located in Mexico, randomly appeared in a farmer’s cornfield on February 20, 1943, and within a week, it was already five stories tall. In 1952, nine years after it literally emerged from the ground, it reached its peak height of 424 meters, or just over 1,390 feet. So when you go to bed tonight, just remember that when you wake up, there may be a volcano growing in your living room. Sweet dreams.

The Yellowstone Caldera is a beast that's been sleeping for 640,000 years. Let's hope she doesn't wake up. Granted, scientists claim that chances of it erupting are slim, but it would immediately result in 90,000 deaths across the U.S. and leave a ten-foot layer of ash within 1,000 kilometers of the site. Not only would people be buried in burning ash, but it would also disrupt electronics, block out the sun, and cool temperatures. This in turn would destroy crops and cause a worldwide food shortage. While some geologists claim that it wouldn't be nearly as dramatic as that, the ash would still disrupt communications, shut down air travel, and block water lines. And that's the best case scenario! On the plus side, the various reports you may have heard that Yellowstone is overdue for an eruption are, according to Yellowstone Volcano Observatory and the US Geological Survey, false.

So, are you fascinated or terrified by volcanoes? What do you think of the possibility that they could be used for energy? For more world-shaping top tens and sulfur dioxide spewing top fives published every day, be sure to subscribe to Watchmojo.com.