"Learn more about the destructive force of volcanoes through powerful images and stories. Clear text emphasizes scientific efforts to better understand how to prepare for volcanic eruptions, while appropriately high-impact visuals keep readers engaged"--Provided by publisher.

Conditions on Earth are becoming more and more extreme and kids want to learn about it! Is it true that, at any given time, about 20 volcanoes are erupting somewhere on Earth? Yes! Sometimes volcanoes erupt with a big, dangerous bang. Other times they spit out lava so slowly that you could walk faster than it flows. INSIDE, YOU LL FIND: • How volcanoes form, when they erupt, and an account of the most devastating ones in recent history; • A hands-on activity, a timeline, photos, diagrams—and how scientists are studying volcanoes and their impact on our planet; • Surprising TRUE facts that will shock and amaze you! This new set in the ongoing A TRUE BOOK series will answer all of kids' questions about nature's most dangerous and destructive disasters! With an engaging layout, and spectacular photos, illustrations, diagrams and infographics, the past, present and future of extreme phenomenon happening on Earth will be explained. Readers will discover causes and consequences, as well as the cutting-edge science developed through the centuries to forecast them. First-hand accounts will bring science to life, and a special section will teach kids how to prepare for these extreme events.

An exhilarating, time-traveling journey to the solar system’s strangest and most awe-inspiring volcanoes. Volcanoes are capable of acts of pyrotechnical prowess verging on magic: they spout black magma more fluid than water, create shimmering cities of glass at the bottom of the ocean and frozen lakes of lava on the moon, and can even tip entire planets over. Between lava that melts and re-forms the landscape, and noxious volcanic gases that poison the atmosphere, volcanoes have threatened life on Earth countless times in our planet’s history. Yet despite their reputation for destruction, volcanoes are inseparable from the creation of our planet. A lively and utterly fascinating guide to these geologic wonders, Super Volcanoes revels in the incomparable power of volcanic eruptions past and present, Earthbound and otherwise—and recounts the daring and sometimes death-defying careers of the scientists who study them. Science journalist and volcanologist Robin George Andrews explores how these eruptions reveal secrets about the worlds to which they belong, describing the stunning ways in which volcanoes can sculpt the sea, land, and sky, and even influence the machinery that makes or breaks the existence of life. Walking us through the mechanics of some of the most infamous eruptions on Earth, Andrews outlines what we know about how volcanoes form, erupt, and evolve, as well as what scientists are still trying to puzzle out. How can we better predict when a deadly eruption will occur—and protect communities in the danger zone? Is Earth’s system of plate tectonics, unique in the solar system, the best way to forge a planet that supports life? And if life can survive and even thrive in Earth’s extreme volcanic environments—superhot, superacidic, and supersaline surroundings previously thought to be completely inhospitable—where else in the universe might we find it? Traveling from Hawai‘i, Yellowstone, Tanzania, and the ocean floor to the moon, Venus, and Mars, Andrews illuminates the cutting-edge discoveries and lingering scientific mysteries surrounding these phenomenal forces of nature.

A unique interdisciplinary approach to disaster risk research, including global hazards and case-studies, for researchers, graduate students and professionals.

Volcanic eruptions are common, with more than 50 volcanic eruptions in the United States alone in the past 31 years. These eruptions can have devastating economic and social consequences, even at great distances from the volcano. Fortunately many eruptions are preceded by unrest that can be detected using ground, airborne, and spaceborne instruments. Data from these instruments, combined with basic understanding of how volcanoes work, form the basis for forecasting eruptionsâ€"where, when, how big, how long, and the consequences. Accurate forecasts of the likelihood and magnitude of an eruption in a specified timeframe are rooted in a scientific understanding of the processes that govern the storage, ascent, and eruption of magma. Yet our understanding of volcanic systems is incomplete and biased by the limited number of volcanoes and eruption styles observed with advanced instrumentation. Volcanic Eruptions and Their Repose, Unrest, Precursors, and Timing identifies key science questions, research and observation priorities, and approaches for building a volcano science community capable of tackling them. This report presents goals for making major advances in volcano science.

The monograph covers the fundamentals and the consequences of extreme geophysical phenomena like asteroid impacts, climatic change, earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, flooding, and space weather. This monograph also addresses their associated, local and worldwide socio-economic impacts. The understanding and modeling of these phenomena is critical to the development of timely worldwide strategies for the prediction of natural and anthropogenic extreme events, in order to mitigate their adverse consequences. This monograph is unique in as much as it is dedicated to recent theoretical, numerical and empirical developments that aim to improve: (i) the understanding, modeling and prediction of extreme events in the geosciences, and, (ii) the quantitative evaluation of their economic consequences. The emphasis is on coupled, integrative assessment of the physical phenomena and their socio-economic impacts. With its overarching theme, Extreme Events: Observations, Modeling and Economics will be relevant to and become an important tool for researchers and practitioners in the fields of hazard and risk analysis in general, as well as to those with a special interest in climate change, atmospheric and oceanic sciences, seismo-tectonics, hydrology, and space weather.

Volcanic Hazards: A Sourcebook on the Effects of Eruptions provides a comprehensive discussion of volcanic eruptions and their effects. This volume provides background data on volcanic activity with attention directed specifically at those types of activity and those characteristics which are hazardous. It establishes the direct effects of volcanic eruptions on humans in terms of death and injuries, and social aspects such as perception of eruption hazards, evacuation, panic, looting, and religious beliefs. It discusses the indirect consequences of volcanic eruptions for humans by illustrating the effects on buildings, utilities, communication networks and machinery, agriculture, and commercial activity. This book should be of interest to planners, engineers, city administrators, agriculturalists, and emergency services personnel who must deal with the effects of volcanic hazards; to volcanologists and geologists who did not know eruptions affected so many things; to geographers, environmentalists, and natural hazard scientists who are interested in the interrelatedness of phenomena; and to citizens who have experienced, or might yet experience, some of these effects.