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La Palma Volcano Erupts and Causes Toxic Gas
La Palma volcano is erupting again and causing fresh concerns that the air quality in the Spanish islands may not be suitable for human breathing.
The last time this happened, in 2021, when the eruption took place in La Palma. There was a strong warning from the Intergovernmental Environmental Agency, or GEA, about the danger of this happening again.
So why did this volcano erupt?
There were two major reasons, one of them is because a new fault line has opened beneath the surface of the Earth, thus opening the doorway for magma to flow. This is similar to what happens when you take a piece of paper off a desk and then flicked it into a bowl of water, the moisture rises, and forms a bubble, but it’s more like when you drop a glass of water into the ocean and it breaks the surface.
When this happens with a volcano, the erupting lava is actually much hotter than the surrounding area. Magma tends to move upward, away from its current location, so as the lava moves up, air can travel through the space created. As it moves quickly, it also spreads out the ash and sulfurous gases. With the latest signs indicating that La Palma is on the verge of erupting again, many fear this taking place another time.
