Akhil Raju

WHAT HAPPENS IF WE THROW GARBAGE INTO VOLCANO

Did you know that volcanoes are one of the most powerful forces of nature? Unfortunately, if you were to fall into one, your body would quickly disappear without a trace. But have you ever wondered why we don't use volcanoes to get rid of our garbage? With Americans alone generating about 254 million tons of trash per year, it might seem like the perfect solution. However, volcanoes are actually much more dangerous and unstable than they appear, and not to mention difficult to access. So let's stick to traditional methods of waste disposal for now. Have you ever wondered if dumping our trash in volcanoes would be a good idea? Well, before we get too excited, let's consider some obstacles we might face. Firstly, we'd need to find an active volcano that's suitable for the job. Unfortunately, there are only around 1,500 potentially active volcanoes in the world, and most of them are located far away from humans. This means that transporting all our trash to an active volcano could be pretty pricey, and even then, we might not find the right kind of volcano. So, do you think it's worth overcoming these obstacles, or should we look for other ways to dispose of our trash? The type of volcano that is being sought after is referred to as a shield volcano, which is a variety that erupts slowly and contains the iconic lava lakes that gradually spew out onto the Earth. Regrettably, these are not commonly found. It is more probable to encounter their volatile counterparts, known as stratovolcanoes. Stratovolcanoes are recognized for their explosive eruptions, which are caused by the accumulation of pressure from hot gas and magma. In other words, they are not the safest location for the town dump. However, let us assume that a suitable active shield volcano is discovered; before contemplating the logistics of transporting our waste there, it is imperative to determine whether it is even a viable option to dispose of it within. Can you imagine being one of the first waste collectors hired to drive up to the vent of a volcano? It sounds pretty crazy, right? The environment up there is super dangerous with poisonous gases, lava splatter, and projectile rocks. And things only get worse once you start throwing trash inside. In fact, back in 2002, some Ethiopian researchers threw a 30 kg bag of trash into a volcano and it caused a huge explosion! Lava lakes are really unstable, so if you throw something cold like trash into them, you'll trigger a chain reaction of explosions involving pressurized and acidic steam. It's pretty wild to think about what would happen if you threw an entire nation's trash in there! To give you an idea, rockfalls into lava lakes in Hawaii have sent lava 85 m (280 feet) into the air. So yeah, it'd be pretty intense So, have you ever thought about throwing your trash into a volcano? Well, even if it seems like a cool idea, it's not really the best option. Burning our waste without filters creates a lot of air pollution, and some materials won't even break down in lava, which could contaminate the surrounding area. Plus, shipping all our trash to volcanoes would increase our carbon footprint. Instead, why not burn our trash somewhere where we can use the heat to create new energy sources? Or, maybe we could even shoot our garbage into space! What do you think?