VOLCANOES AND WHAT THEY MEAN FOR HUMANITY

GIO BLAST

By Abrar Hasanat

Volcanoes have always been a subject of interest amongst human beings. The massive entity, which is usually perceived for its destructive nature, is known by almost everyone young and old. The dictionary definition of a Volcano being, “ a mountain with a large, circular hole at the top through which lava (= hot liquid rock) gases, steam, and dust are or have been forced out.”₁

For most people, a Volcano is a big, evil structure whose only work is to cause destruction; basically a villain sort of presence. With the eruptions of Mount Vesuvius or Mount Ruiz which killed thousands - they’re not really wrong.

Yet, volcanoes can also be termed as underappreciated heroes. Volcanoes have been working for mother nature and (in a way) humanity from before there were any human beings on this earth. From scientific breakthroughs to being the reason the Earth is habitable - they have a role in everything! And that’s what we are going to discuss today!

FIRST LAND: 

As unbelievable as it may sound, volcanoes may be the reason there is land! The materials which were being accumulated due to the formation of the Earth came together with varying degrees of violence. Originally, there was a friction of colliding materials and a spinning molten mass was formed, which in turn cooled down - making a surface layer. Over time, however, the surface thickened into more permanent layers. The volcanic eruptions continued, but those permanent layers had formed the first land.₂ These eruptions released a huge amount of gasses which consequently helped in… 

CREATING THE ATMOSPHERE:

Around 4.6 billion years ago, Earth was a mix of hot gasses and solids with no hint of an atmosphere whatsoever. But as it cooled down, an atmosphere was formed from the gasses which were released by volcanoes. It included hydrogen sulfide, methane, and ten to 200 times as much carbon dioxide as today’s atmosphere. And then, half a BILLION years later - these became cooled and solidified enough and thus came the₃…

BEGINNING OF WATER:

Over 4.5 billion years, the amount of water that has been produced by volcanoes has actually given us the water that we have on Earth, said Concord University volcanologist, Dr. Janine Krippner.₄ A simple explanation is: Earth’s interior contains minerals with hydrogen and oxygen. Volcanoes continually were ‘degassing or ‘outgassing’ and releasing H2O as water vapor. Now, the water should’ve been vaporized due to the intense heat of the magma; however, Earth’s surrounding atmosphere gradually cooled down. After some time Earth’s surface cooled below the boiling point of water, then instead of water evaporating into space, rain began draining into ocean basins. Thus came the water!₅

So, pretty intriguing right? The volcanoes in a way are the very reason why human beings can survive on this earth. I mean, imagine an Earth but with no land, water or atmosphere! Sounds pretty impossible right? And that’s why human life would’ve been impossible without something most people don’t even consider as a good thing, volcanoes. 

Now the question is, are these volcanoes still important? The answer is - Absolutely!

SOIL ENRICHMENT:

Volcanic dust, ash, and rocks decompose into soils with an exceptional ability to hold nutrients and water, making the soil very fertile. While the most abundant elements in magma are silica and oxygen, eruptions also result in the release of H₂O, carbon dioxide (CO²), sulfur dioxide (SO²), hydrogen sulfide (H²S), and hydrogen chloride (HCl), amongst others.₃

GLOBAL COOLING:

Now I know what you’re thinking, “How can a volcano, which erupts lava, contribute to global cooling?” But, surprisingly it can. When volcanic ash and compounds like sulfur dioxide are released into the atmosphere, it can reflect some of the Sun's rays back into space. This reduces some of the heat which is usually absorbed by the atmosphere. This cooling process is known as “Global Dimming”.₃ 

EXPANSION OF LAND:

Even though volcanoes made most of their impact a few billion years ago by MAKING land, they didn’t end there. Volcanic eruptions continue to add land, whether by extending existing land, as in Hawaii or by bringing new islands to the surface, as at Surtsey, an island that emerged in 1963 along the mid-ocean ridge near Iceland.₂

There are several other advantages of volcanoes in the modern age. Like: the use of geothermal energy, attracting tourists, etc. But you get the point that these “older-than-land” volcanoes are still helping humanity!

Despite their reputation as destructive forces, volcanoes were actually an integral part of the development of life on Earth. Without volcanoes, most of Earth's water would still be trapped in the crust and mantle; the creation of the second atmosphere (which is the modern atmosphere we have now) would not have been possible; we would have no land to live on since the components in the interior of Earth would all be accumulated together without any layers. The volcanic eruptions in the early times resulted in the creation of the second atmosphere which is the modern atmosphere we have now.₂ Besides water and air, volcanoes are responsible for land, another necessity for many life forms. volcanoes may be devastating at the moment, but ultimately Earth's life would not be the same, if it existed at all, without volcanoes. So we can say that surely they are under-appreciated and the impact of volcanoes is far greater than what the average person thinks. 

Works Cited:

1. “Volcano.” Cambridge Dictionary. Accessed July 1, 2021. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/volcano.

2. Blaettler, Karen G. “What Is the Importance of Volcanoes to Life on Earth?” Sciencing, March 2, 2019. https://sciencing.com/importance-volcanoes-life-earth-10048990.html.

3. Cain, Fraser. “What Are the Benefits of Volcanoes?” Phys.org. Phys.org, March 21, 2016. https://phys.org/news/2016-03-benefits-volcanoes.html.

4. Williams, Ashley. “6 Ways Volcanoes Benefit Earth, Our Environment.” AccuWeather. Accessed July 1, 2021. https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/6-ways-volcanoes-benefit-earth-our-environment/348155.

5. “Did Earth's First Water Come from Comets, Volcanoes or Asteroids?” Earth How, January 18, 2021. https://earthhow.com/origin-of-water-comets-volcanoes-outgassing/.

G7 SUMMIT 2021: All you need to know. 

CULTURE RADAR

By Sam Townson

G7 - What is it? 

On the 11th June 2021 leaders from the world’s richest nations gathered in Cornwall as the United Kingdom hosted the 47th G7 Summit,₁ but what is the G7 Summit? 

Well, G7 actually stands for the ‘Group of Seven’₁ and is made up of the ‘world’s leading democracies’.₂The nations and people at this year’s summit include: 

• Boris Johnson - UK

• Joe Biden - USA

• Justin Trudeau - Canada

• Emmanuel Macron - France 

• Angela Merkel - Germany 

• Mario Draghi - Italy 

• Yoshihide Suga - Japan 

• Ursula von der Leyen - European Union 

Now you might have spotted something untoward about that list...there are eight attendees.₃ This is because the European Union is not technically part of the G7 but still attends the G7 Summits as it is one of the world’s largest political blocs and is bound up in the G7’s open value of democracy and having an outward-looking global society.₄ This year India, South Korea and Australia were invited as guest countries.₂ 

Quick fact - the G7 was once the G8 but Russia was dismissed from the group in 2014 after it annexed Crimea.₁ 

At the G7 Summits the members discuss the issues the world is currently faced with ranging from economics to health to the climate crisis. For example, past summits have focused on developing countries and their need for debt relief, HIV and AIDS, and global security concerns.₁ 

The G7 Summit is a key moment in the global political calendar as it is a meeting of the world’s wealthiest and most powerful countries meaning decisions made at these summits reverberate across the world.₁ 

Quick fact - the first summit meeting of this style took place in France in 1975 with the then G6 Summit taking place between France, West Germany, the USA, Japan, the UK, and Italy.₅ 

G7 2021 - Is it special?

This year’s summit is not particularly special as it continues the routine of these countries and their leaders coming together every year. However, it has garnered extra attention for being Joe Biden’s first since becoming president and his first visit to Europe, the first in person since the beginning of the Coronavirus Pandemic, and the first of the two global gatherings the UK is hosting this year as we await COP26 coming in November.₅ The summit also comes at a time when the world sits on a precipice of the pandemic as the vaccine roll out gathers pace in some countries and remains strained in others. 

Quick fact - COP26 is going to be the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference where members of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change discuss the progress on tackling climate change.₆ 

On the agenda for the 47th Summit was the current climate crisis, the global pandemic, and global economic recovery from the pandemic with an aim to ‘Build Back Better’.₇ So, what decisions were made and what do they mean? 

What happened? 

The first, and potentially most immediate, decision made at this year’s G7 Summit was regarding the COVID-19 vaccines. Over the next year the G7 leaders have pledged to deliver 870 million vaccine doses to low income countries on top of the 350 million already promised by the US and UK.₇ The World Health Organisation welcomed this generosity, but highlighted the need for further action showing the actual need to be around 11 billion vaccines.₈ 

Quick fact - over 2.7 billion vaccine doses have been given globally, yet some countries are yet to administer a single dose.₉ 

Moreover, the group made moves to implement frameworks which would improve the world’s defence against and resilience to global health threats in the future with an increase in early warning systems and support for vaccine development.₁₀ 

The attention then moved to ‘building back better’ as G7 nations invest, as part of the Build Back Better World (B3W) initiative, in infrastructure projects globally focused on recovery from the pandemic, fighting climate change, and improving global inequality.₈ The nations also hope to strengthen their own economies with a focus on creating jobs, driving innovation, and ensuring equal opportunities so no person or place is ‘left behind’.₁₀ 

Action was also taken against global technology companies to ensure technological progress is for the common good and inaccord with the G7’s values of creating a resilient global economy with a’fair global tax system’.₁₀ The G7 nations agreed to implement measures to dissuade multinational corporations from shifting their profits into low tax havens.₈ This agreement was backed by leaders signing up to a global minimum corporation tax rate of 15%.₈

Quick fact - it is estimated the reforms will generate as much as $81bn (£57bn) in additional tax revenue a year.₁₁ 

Finally, the leaders discussed the state of the environment and the climate crisis. All nations pledged to phase out coal power generation and end funding for new coal power plants in low income countries with funding offered to help these nations develop cleaner energy.₁₁ The nations also pledged to meet net zero by 2050 and aim to conserve 30% of land and oceans by 2030. 

Quick fact - currently only 15% of land and 7% of ocean is under some degree of protection.₁₂

What does it all mean? 

These decisions illustrate that there is still a way to go to tackle the global pandemic and that this is still the primary focus of the world’s wealthiest nations. Steps are being made in the right direction as vaccines are rolled out globally and there is talk of building back better as well. 

However, it is clear the global community is still faced by serious threats. We are in the midst of a global pandemic, global corporations are attempting to exploit the global economy for their own gains, and the climate crisis looms over us demanding immediate action.

Works Cited:

1. The Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD). (2021) G7 Summit 2021: What is the G7, when is it meeting and where is the summit taking place?. CAFOD. (Online). (Accessed 23 June 2021). Available from: https://cafod.org.uk/Campaign/Reclaim-our-common-home/What-is-the-G7-Summit-2021

2. G7 UK. (2021a) G7 United Kingdom 2021 - Build Back Better. G7 UK 2021. (Online). (Accessed 23 June 2021). Available from: https://www.g7uk.org/ 

3. Bain, E. (2021) Who is at the G7 Summit? All the world leaders who are in Cornwall this weekend. HITC. (Online). (Accessed 23 June 2021). Available from: https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2021/06/12/who-is-at-the-g7-summit/ 

4. Tua, M. (2021) G7 SUmmit: what is the G7 and why is it being held in Cornwall this year? The Express. (Online). (Accessed 23 June 2021). Available from: https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1446914/G7-summit-2021-what-is-G7-summit-why-g7-in-Cornwall-EVG

5. G7 Germany. (2021) From Rambouillet to Brussels - the history of the G7. The Federal Government - G7 Germany. (Online). (Accessed 23 June 2021). Available from: https://www.g7germany.de/Content/EN/StatischeSeiten/G7_elmau_en/texte_en/2014-11-05-geschichte-g8.html

6. Huda, Z. (2021) What is COP26 and how does it impact climate change? Planet Shine. (Online). (Accessed 23 June 2021). Available from: https://planetshine.com/what-is-cop26/

7. Broom, D. (2021) Global solutions: four things that came out of the G7 Summit. World Economic Forum. (Online). (Accessed 23 June 2021). Available from: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/06/g7-summit-covid19-tax-environment/ 

8. Bunici, D. (2021) Explainer: What happened at this year’s G7 Summit? Extra.ie. (Online). (Accessed 23 June 2021). Available from: https://extra.ie/2021/06/14/news/world-news/what-happened-g7-summit-2021

9. Holder, J. (2021) Tracking Coronavirus Vaccinations Around the World. New York Times. (Online). (Accessed 23 June 2021). Available from: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/world/covid-vaccinations-tracker.html

10. G7 UK. (2021b). Caris Bay G7 Summit Communique. G7 UK 2021. (Online). (Accessed 23 June 2021). Available from: https://www.g7uk.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Summary-of-Carbis-Bay-G7-Summit-Communique-PDF-248KB-2-Pages.pdf 

11. Partington, R. (2021) G7 tax reform: what has been agreed and which companies will it affect? The Guardian. (Online). (Accessed 23 June 2021). Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/07/g7-tax-reform-what-has-been-agreed-and-which-companies-will-it-affect 

12. George, S. (2020) Protect one-third of world’s oceans and land to deliver $500bn economic boost, scientists urge. Edie. (Online). (Accessed 23 June 2021). Available from: https://www.edie.net/news/4/Protect-one-third-of-world-s-oceans-and-land-to-deliver--500bn-economic-boost--scientists-urge/