ANCHORAGE, Alaska: A volcano near Alaska’s largest city is showing new signs of unrest, with experts saying the likelihood of an eruption at Mount Spurr in the next few weeks or months has increased.
The Alaska Volcano Observatory said Wednesday that it had measured during recent overflights “significantly elevated volcanic gas emissions,” and said signs indicated an eruption was likely, though not certain, in the weeks or months ahead.
“We expect to see further increases in seismic activity, gas emissions and surface heating prior to an eruption, if one were to occur,” the observatory said in a statement. “Such stronger unrest may provide days to weeks of additional warning.”
What is Mount Spurr?
It is an 11,070-foot (3,374-meter) tall, ice- and snow-covered volcano roughly 80 miles (129 kilometers) northwest of Anchorage.
Mount Spurr is one of 53 volcanoes in Alaska that have been active within the last 250 years. It has two main vents.
When did Mount Spurr last erupt?
The last known eruption from the summit vent was more than 5,000 years ago. The Crater Peak vent, meanwhile, erupted once in 1953 and three times in 1992, according to the observatory. The Crater Peak vent is about 2 miles (3 kilometers) south of the summit.
There have been periods of increased earthquake or other activity since then, including between 2004 and 2006, but no other eruptions. Last October, the observatory raised its alert status for Mount Spurr from green to yellow when an increase in seismic activity became pronounced and a ground deformation was spotted in satellite data.
The most likely outcome of the current unrest would be an eruption or eruptions similar to those in 1953 and 1992, the observatory said.
However, “It is also possible that no eruption occurs and the present activity slowly dies away or that a smaller eruption takes place,” John Power, a geophysicist with the US Geological Survey at the observatory, wrote in an email.
What impacts could an eruption have?
The eruptions during the last century lasted between three and seven hours, produced ash columns that rose more than 50,000 feet (15,240 meters) above sea level and deposited ashfall in south-central Alaska communities, according to the observatory.
In 1992, ashfall of about a quarter-inch in Anchorage prompted residents to stay inside or to wear masks if going outside to avoid breathing ash. The cloud drifted as far as Greenland.
Volcanic ash is angular and sharp and has been used as an industrial abrasive. The powdered rock can cause a jet engine to shut down.
The 1992 eruptions prompted the temporary closures of airports in Anchorage and other communities.
Closing airports can be more than an inconvenience in a state where most communities aren’t connected to Alaska’s main road system. Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport also is among the world’s busiest cargo hubs.
A volcano near Alaska’s largest city could erupt in the coming weeks or months, scientists say
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A volcano near Alaska’s largest city could erupt in the coming weeks or months, scientists say
- The Alaska Volcano Observatory said Wednesday that it had measured during recent overflights “significantly elevated volcanic gas emissions”
Austrian lower house passes headscarf ban for under-14s in schools
- The ban, proposed by the ruling coalition of three centrist parties, was also backed by the far-right Freedom Party
- Amnesty International said it would “add to the current racist climate toward Muslims“
VIENNA: Austria’s lower house of parliament on Thursday passed a ban on Muslim headscarves in schools for girls under 14 despite uncertainty over whether the legislation will be ruled unconstitutional as a previous ban was five years ago.
The ban, proposed by the ruling coalition of three centrist parties, was also backed by the far-right Freedom Party, which was alone in calling for it to apply to school staff as well. The only party to oppose the proposed ban was the smallest in parliament, the Greens, arguing it violates the constitution.
Rights groups have criticized the plan. Amnesty International said it would “add to the current racist climate toward Muslims.” The body that officially represents Austria’s Muslims has called it an infringement of fundamental rights.
“This is not about restricting freedom, but about protecting the freedom of girls up to 14,” Yannick Shetty, the parliamentary leader of the liberal Neos, the most junior party in the ruling coalition, told the lower house.
“It (the headscarf) is not just an item of clothing. It serves, particularly with minors, to shield girls from the male gaze. It sexualizes girls,” he said.
The minister for integration, Claudia Plakolm of the conservative People’s Party, which leads the ruling coalition, called headscarves for minors “a symbol of oppression.”
Austria’s Constitutional Court ruled in 2020 that a previous ban, which applied to under-10s in schools, was illegal because it discriminated against Muslims and the state has a duty to be religiously neutral. Going against that principle requires special justification, it held.
Shetty said the government had commissioned a study that is still under way in an effort to meet that requirement, without elaborating on its content.
Education Minister Christoph Wiederkehr of the Neos said young girls were coming under increasing pressure from their families — and also from unrelated young boys — who tell them what to wear for “religious reasons.”
The Greens’ deputy parliamentary leader, Sigrid Maurer, agreed that is a problem, and suggested interdisciplinary teams including representatives of the Muslim community be set up to intervene in schools when “cultural tensions” flare.
