Is an active volcano part of wildlife? the largest volcano in Russia. place. Volcano Ichinskaya Sopka

Cotopaxi has a reputation, he said. This is the most dangerous volcano in Ecuador. James Halpern and Carla Vermeulen are psychologists and co-authors of the upcoming book Mental Intervention in Disasters: Basic Principles and Practice. When a natural disaster strikes, many of those directly affected experience emotional and physical tolls - headaches, stomach aches, insomnia and a range of emotions from helplessness to anger.

Those affected by disasters may also experience clinical depression and anxiety. It's important to provide a sense of safety, psychologists say, so those affected can move on from the disaster. "The end," says Halpern, "is where the healing begins."

However, for those living in the long-term shadow of a potential crisis, it may be difficult to move on. “They need to be a little scared, but only moderately so.” We tend to think of disasters as acute events, says Vermeulen. The storm happens and then it's all over. An earthquake happens and then it's all over. But waiting for a volcano to erupt is "a different kind of disaster," she says.

If the disaster continues, healing is much more difficult, Halpern adds. “At the end of a shooting, people want to know you have a shooter, otherwise you’re not safe.” “Psychologically, we are very good at adapting and adjusting when something happens and it’s over,” Vermeulen says. “In this state of anxiety and stress, it is much more difficult to exist without knowing what the full extent of the damage will be.” Halpern calls this “anticipatory worry.”

It's a bit of a double-edged sword, says Vermeulen. Knowing in advance that a disaster is likely to strike, residents can prepare their homes and minds for the coming impact. But it can also inspire daily fear and stress. The balance, Halpern says, is difficult to achieve. "They need to be a little scared, but only moderately so," he says. Those in the path of impending disaster must plan escape routes and emergency meeting places, but they must also live their lives.

One of the key factors for maintaining a cautious but balanced life in a potential disaster area is access to reliable, trustworthy information; the other trusts authorities to prioritize their safety and well-being.

“If they feel abandoned by their government, by the specialist responders, that's a difficult emphasis,” says Vermeulen. At every stage of disaster, people are desperate to know what is happening, she continues. She adds that withholding information and not confronting rumors with accurate information- “exactly what not to do.”

But many managers emergency situations there are other priorities, especially when disasters have not yet struck. However, they indicate that psychological help First aid and follow-up care can be an important step in helping communities recover and rebuild.

"The sooner you can get people functioning again, the sooner they will start to recover," says Vermeulen. "They're taking it into their own hands." Both psychologists emphasize the importance of coming together as a community to prepare for a disaster of any length.

“In Ecuador, it would be so important for community members to know how to help each other,” Halpern says. "Did not have emergency system", - she said. "We were alone." She began to use what she called "the idea of ​​argumentative democracy." We needed a signal about where to run,” Judge said. "We had absolutely nothing."

Previously, San Rafael worked on the erzats system found in many high-risk cities around Cotopaxi: warning style natural disasters, which included radios, old-fashioned whistles and door-to-door warnings. Judge initially said officials responded to the community petition by purchasing no effective system alarm, which took 12 minutes to activate the sirens, but residents knew that once the lahar started flowing, they only had 30 minutes. Later, after increasing pressure from the community, they switched to a more efficient system.

I don't have to dream about the whistles anymore,” Judge said. So far, exercises and tests show that the alarm system works. Yaj found comfort in seeing the fruits of her actions—something she could do to ease the fear and anxiety in her community.

“I hope it works,” Judge said. An island in the North Atlantic leads to a hectic existence. An aerial photo shows the Bárdarbunga volcano in southeast Iceland emitting lava and smoke. Burning eyes, breathing problems, dead birds: Bardabung's activities have serious side effects. Still threatened by Icelandic volcano big blow, the danger is not prohibited.

Many of Iceland's 30 active volcanoes are covered by glaciers. The shimmering Mýrdalsökull ice sheet covers the caldera of the mighty Katla volcano. Birger stops, hits the spikes under his hiking boots onto the ice and scratches the map with his pimple. Between these two glacial peaks we have Katla Volcano. Katla is the third largest active volcano in Iceland. For us, all volcanoes are women. And Katla is overdue, she will soon have to break out.

And for the Icelanders it would be much deadlier than Bardabung's current outbreak: it spits its lava into the island's uninhabited interior, but here on south coast, many farms and towns will be affected. In the nearby coastal town of Vik, they are already practicing evacuations.

He fell from a glacier into a huge waterfall. Such huge waves tides would also be possible at Bardabung, explains Martin Hensch. The German seismologist has been working for the Icelandic Meteorological Service in Reykjavik for several years. At the moment the flash point is outside the glacier and we are of course currently watching how it will develop, with the fear that this rift could eventually open up to the south and then fall under the glacier on the one hand. there would be a quick meltdown glacial ice, which could lead to tidal waves in the north of Iceland, on the other hand, the contact of meltwater and magma could lead to explosion vapors, which would also lead to the release of ash into the atmosphere.

Problem: The volcano system is located on Vatnajokull, Iceland's largest glacier. Martin Hensch: We are concerned that we are now seeing a lot strong earthquakes on the ring fault of the Bárðarbunga Caldera and that they could eventually form a zone of weakness along this fault along which magma could rise and then erupt into the The outbreak in the central volcano itself would definitely be under the glacier, but again it's playing big role: Is this eruption strong enough to break through the glacier?

Volcanic eruptions and earthquakes have shaped life in Iceland since the first settlers arrived a thousand years ago. People have learned to accept the threat, says Haraldur Sigurdsson. When the renowned volcanologist is not on Bardabung, he is leading visitors through his private volcano museum in his hometown of Stykkisholmur in western Iceland.

It was the most big disaster in our history: a crack on the earth's surface was 25 kilometers long, and 105 craters erupted at the same time. An incredible amount of sulfur dioxide was released, poisoning the earth. Three quarters of all animals in Iceland died. The population decreased by a quarter.

A toxic ash cloud darkened the skies for months and penetrated deep into mainland Europe. Some historians say that this volcanic eruption in Iceland caused poor harvests in France and therefore indirectly caused French Revolution, says Haraldur. For my long life As a scientist, the 75-year-old has studied eruptions around the world.

It's too early for it to be completely clear

"Volcanic activity is the greatest expression of the Earth's power and energy, and volcanic eruptions are the greatest spectacle on Earth, unless you want to be a part of atomic explosion which I don't like." Glaciologist Helga Maria Heidarsdottir was only in her mid-30s, but she also experienced some volcanic eruptions on her home island.

Volcanoes are unpredictable, which is why it is so difficult for seismologist Martin Hensch to say how the situation in Bardabunga will develop. One thing is clear: he cannot make everything clear. What we see in this moment, may be the beginning of a longer episode of rifting, that is, the North American and Eurasian plates move apart, and the gap between them is filled with magma and individual eruptions occur But for a long time, and if we are to expect otherwise after the outbreak that is currently underway, we must reassess: is the magma pressure increasing again or is this whole situation calming down altogether?

It's impossible to predict. Volcanic outbreaks have repeatedly affected global climate. But by no means as drastic as thought - as new computer simulations demonstrate. In addition to particulate matter, about 115 million tons of gaseous sulfur compounds rose from Tambora to more than 30 kilometers. In the form of tiny condensed aerosol droplets, they collected in the stratosphere and spread throughout the world. This layer of haze absorbed some of the sun's rays and led to worldwide cooling.

This was followed by a "year without a summer": in some parts of the northern hemisphere average temperature in the summer months it dropped to three degrees Celsius, and in Europe the result was inevitably accompanied by a worse famine. There, Pinatubo catapulted about 28 cubic kilometers of ash and rock, as well as 20 million tons of sulfur compounds, into the atmosphere. This resulted in a global cooling of half a degree Celsius for two to three years. Claudia Timrek at the Institute of Meteorology. Max Planck in Hamburg was intensively involved in the Pinatubo outbreak and its effects early in her career as a climate scientist.