Back on the old blog, I used to do frequent updates on volcanic eruptions around the world. Now that I’m covering a wider field of geology, those are a little more uncommon. There is a lot of information about volcanic activity going on across globe at any one time. Usually about 8-12 volcanoes are erupting at the same time, so never believe the hype if you see media articles about how 2-3 volcanoes erupted so that means the Earth is going crazy!
Here are some places I go to check on volcanic activity:
Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program: This is the ultimate source of verified volcano news. The Weekly Volcanic Activity Report has snapshots of much of the eruptive activity that occurs across the planet and is vetted, so you can trust the information is real. Updated on Thursdays (usually), this is the place to start.
VAAC: The Volcano Ash Advisory Centers have more technical information about eruptions as they happen. The world is divided up into different VAACs, so you can select the region where the volcanoes you’re interested in lie to see if they have issued any advisories for air traffic due to volcanic activity.
A whole bunch of volcano monitoring agencies have pages with status updates and information for their country’s volcanoes. Here is a selection of some of the best and most frequently updated:
USGS Volcano Hazards Program: If you are keen on American volcanoes, check out the USGS Volcano Hazards Program page, which features a great map of the current status of the volcanoes in the United States. It is a simple status system: green is “everything is normal”, yellow is “unrest”, orange is “high unrest and eruption” and red is “active, hazardous eruption”.
If you are really curious check out more sources of Volcano info!
Adafruit publishes a wide range of writing and video content, including interviews and reporting on the maker market and the wider technology world. Our standards page is intended as a guide to best practices that Adafruit uses, as well as an outline of the ethical standards Adafruit aspires to. While Adafruit is not an independent journalistic institution, Adafruit strives to be a fair, informative, and positive voice within the community – check it out here: adafruit.com/editorialstandards
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.