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Why can’t we throw all our garbage in a volcano and burn it? – Georgin T.
It is true that the lava is hot enough to burn some of our garbage. When Kilauea erupted on the large island of Hawaii in 2018, lava flows were Most hot than 2000 ° F (1100 ° C). This is more hot than The surface of the planet is VenusAnd hot enough to dissolve many rocks. The weather is hot as the waste incinerators, which usually burn the garbage in 1800 to 2200 Fahrenheit (1,000-1200 ° C).
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But not all lava is the same temperature. Bangs in Hawaii produce a kind of volcanic lava called Basalt. Base is hotter and more flexible than lava that erupts in other volcanoes, such as thick Dasit lava It erupts on the Mount of Saint Helen, Washington State. For example, the 2004-2008 eruption in St. Helen’s Mountain Cooker produced the volcanic lava dome with superficial temperatures less than about 1300 Fahrenheit (704 ° C).
After the temperature, there are other good reasons for not burning trash in volcanoes. First, although the lava at 2000 ° F can melt many materials in the trash – including food scraps, paper, plastic, glass and some minerals – they are not hot enough to dissolve many other common materials, including Steel, nickel and iron.
Second, there are not many volcanoes on the ground that contains lava lakes, or the potholes -like pipes filled with volcanic lava, in which we can dump the garbage. Of all thousands of volcanoes on Earth, scholars are known only Eight with active lava lakes. And include Kitoaand Mount Rebus in Antarctica and Nyiragongo in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Most of the active volcanoes have a dug filled with rocks and cold lava, such as Mount St. HelenOr with water, such as Lake Crater in Oregon.
The third problem is that dumping garbage in these eight active lava lamps will be a very dangerous task. The lava lakes are covered with a dandruff of cold lava, but below that crust directly, they are extensively fascinated and hot. If the rocks or other materials fall on the surface of the lava lake, they will break the shell, disrupt the lava and cause an explosion.
This happened in Kilauea in 2015: Blocks of the Rock fell from The Creater Rim in LAVA Lake and caused a major explosion Empty rocks and lava up and outside the hole. Anyone who threw garbage in lava lava must escape and avoid garbage and lava.
Suppose it was possible to secure the garbage safely in the lava lava: What will happen to the garbage? When plastic, garbage and minerals are burned, they release a lot of toxic gases. The volcano already gives tons of toxic gases, including sulfur, chlorine and carbon dioxide.
Sulfur gases can create acid fog, which we call “VOG” for “volcanic fog”. maybe Kill the plants and cause breathing problems for people close. Mixing these wrong volcanic gases with other gases from burning our trash will make the resulting fumes more harmful People and plants near the volcano.
Finally, many indigenous societies are volcanic as sacred places. For example, the Halema’uma’u hole in Kilauea is the home of Pele, the original Hawaiian gods, and the area around the flesh Sacred by the indigenous Hawaiian residents. Throwing garbage in volcanoes will be a great insult to those cultures.
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This article has been republished from ConversationAn independent, non -profit news organization brings you facts and trusted analysis to help you understand our complex world. Written by: Emily Johnsonand American geological survey
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Emily Johnson receives funding from the American Geological Survey
