Some Alaskans have the dubious distinction of a volcano practically in their backyard, across the water or upwind. Now, a new radio program will help keep them, and other listeners across the state, informed about what’s going on with Alaska’s 54 active volcanoes. The Alaska Volcano Observatory, or AVO, is starting up the weekly two-minute public radio […]
On Dec. 15, 1989, a pilot who had flown a 747 passenger jet all the way from Amsterdam was looking forward to landing in Anchorage. There, he would take a short break before continuing to Tokyo. Descending over Southcentral Alaska, he and his co-pilot saw what looked like an inky storm cloud ahead. Flying into […]
Puyulek—Volcano Puyulek yakguani et’aartut, ingrini.—The volcanoes are far away, in the mountains. Although there are no volcanoes in the Kodiak Archipelago, the mountainous Alaska Peninsula and the Aleutian Island chain are formed largely by volcanic activity. Along this expanse of Alaska’s coast there are at least eighty volcanoes that have been active in the past […]
Two-hundred and thirty-six years ago, when Gen. George Washington marched back into New York City as British troops were walking out, a volcano erupted in Iceland. For eight months of 1783, Laki volcano spewed lava and belched noxious fumes into the atmosphere. One-quarter of the residents of Iceland died, and the sulfur-rich gases that spread […]