WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: What Happens When Hurricanes Hit Volcanoes?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Vogo bam here with a classic

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<v Speaker 1>episode from the podcast archives. Hurricanes and volcanoes are two

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<v Speaker 1>of the most fear inspiring and all inspiring natural disasters

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<v Speaker 1>that we humans contend with. In this classic, we talk

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<v Speaker 1>about what happens when they team up. Hey brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Vogle bam here. It seems like a scenario tailor

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<v Speaker 1>made for a cheesy disaster film, the next big thing

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<v Speaker 1>on Netflix, or a soon to be sci Fi network classic.

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<v Speaker 1>A rumbling volcano on a remote tropical island, a monsters

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<v Speaker 1>hurricane barreling relentlessly towards it, lava, lightning, stinging rain, flooding,

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<v Speaker 1>man eating sharks dropping out of the sky. It strike

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<v Speaker 1>that last part. This isn't Sharknado, but the odd coupling

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<v Speaker 1>of active volcano and hurricane still can be pretty cool

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<v Speaker 1>and scary, and it's very real When hurricane meets a volcano,

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<v Speaker 1>and it happens probably more often than you think, some

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<v Speaker 1>strange and wondrous sparks begin to fly. How big those

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<v Speaker 1>sometimes literal sparks become depends on a few key factors,

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<v Speaker 1>of course, including the strength of the hurricane, how active

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<v Speaker 1>the volcano is, and the topography surrounding the volcano. Because

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<v Speaker 1>of those variables, it's almost impossible to accurately predict what

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<v Speaker 1>will happen when a big storm settles over a big volcano,

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<v Speaker 1>but lightning, lava, rain, and winds are all possibilities. We

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<v Speaker 1>spoke with Stephen Bustinger, a professor in the Department of

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<v Speaker 1>Meteorology at the University of Hawaii, who admits we always

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<v Speaker 1>get excited when a hurricane comes by. In Hawaii. The

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<v Speaker 1>volcano Kilauea on the Island of Hawaii, also known as

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<v Speaker 1>the Big Island, has been actively spouting off since n

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<v Speaker 1>It's latest stretch, which began in mid May, has sputed

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<v Speaker 1>lava from the volcano, destroying seven hundred houses and adding

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<v Speaker 1>more than eight hundred and fifty acres that's about three

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<v Speaker 1>and forty three hectors of new land to the Big Island.

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<v Speaker 1>But in August, researchers from the U S Geological Survey

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<v Speaker 1>said activity from Kilauea's fission number eight, the largest and

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<v Speaker 1>most active, has decreased to only a glow. It's not

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<v Speaker 1>just the lava that makes volcanoes dangerous, though, volcanoes shoot

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<v Speaker 1>vast amounts of ash into the sky that can contribute

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<v Speaker 1>to a lot of rain and flooding. Oregon State University's

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<v Speaker 1>Volcano World website explains that the ash thrown into the

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<v Speaker 1>atmosphere can attract and collect water droplets, creating more rain

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<v Speaker 1>and lightning in the immediate area. When a tropical cyclone

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<v Speaker 1>or hurricane heavy with rain and strong winds is added

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<v Speaker 1>to that already volatile volcanic weather mix, things can become

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<v Speaker 1>even dicier. Bussenger said, its circulation is more vigorous. People

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<v Speaker 1>can be killed by the heavy winds that result or

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<v Speaker 1>the lightning that results. Bussenger has a PhD in atmospheric

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<v Speaker 1>sciences and has been tracking storms, including ones that interact

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<v Speaker 1>with volcanoes, at the University of Hawaii for some five years.

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<v Speaker 1>Here's a historical example. Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines blew

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<v Speaker 1>its top the second largest volcanic eruption of the twentieth century,

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<v Speaker 1>when Typhoon Unia brought heavy rains just as the volcano

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<v Speaker 1>was erupting. The volcanic ashen rock that Pinatubo coughed up

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<v Speaker 1>was washed down the volcano slopes and flows known as

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<v Speaker 1>lahars over the next four years. Those lahars, originally prompted

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<v Speaker 1>by Yunia and later egged on by other storms and

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<v Speaker 1>rainy seasons, eventually caused more damage than the eruption itself.

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<v Speaker 1>After observing tropical storm Flossy roll over Kilauea, in Bussenger

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<v Speaker 1>and colleague Andre patent Hius measured something else, a marked

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<v Speaker 1>increase in lightning. They explained it in a paper in

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<v Speaker 1>the journal Geophysical Research Letters in quote, in the clean atmosphere,

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<v Speaker 1>you have large droplets form around few particles, and those

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<v Speaker 1>large droplets tend to fall out before these large droplets

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<v Speaker 1>have a chance to get up into the upper atmosphere

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<v Speaker 1>where freezing takes place. It's freezing that's required for electrification.

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<v Speaker 1>When you have pollution from a volcano that's producing lots

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<v Speaker 1>of condensation particles, a cloud condensation nuclei we call it,

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<v Speaker 1>then you get many droplets. Those smaller droplets don't rain out,

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<v Speaker 1>and they're more easily lofted above the freezing level, and

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<v Speaker 1>then you do get charge separation electrification. By early August,

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<v Speaker 1>just before Hurricane Hector swung near the southern side of

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<v Speaker 1>the Big Island, seven tropical cyclones had already made landfall

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<v Speaker 1>across the Hawaiian Islands since Kilauea began as the latest

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<v Speaker 1>run of eruptions, the three most recent according to the

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<v Speaker 1>Weather Channel, where Flossy in, Hurricane Zel and Hurricane Darby in.

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<v Speaker 1>With Kilauea showing few signs of abating, Hawaii may be

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<v Speaker 1>facing several more chances at hurricane versus volcano meetings. But

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<v Speaker 1>even if a tropical storm doesn't directly strike the big island,

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<v Speaker 1>even if it doesn't make landfall and glide over Kilauea,

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<v Speaker 1>even if the rains and lightning are somehow held to

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<v Speaker 1>a minimum, can still stir things up around Hawaii. Some

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<v Speaker 1>of those byproducts, given the alternative, might even be welcome there.

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<v Speaker 1>The heavy moist air of a hurricane can help clean

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<v Speaker 1>the air of the bigger ash particles from a volcanic eruption,

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<v Speaker 1>and a good windy storm is always welcome by some

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<v Speaker 1>types in the islands. Passenger said, it's going to kick

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<v Speaker 1>up some holacious surf. Today's episode is based on the

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<v Speaker 1>article Battle Epic When Hurricanes Clash with Volcanoes on how

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff works dot com, written by John Donovan. Brain Stuff

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<v Speaker 1>is production of I Heart Radio and partnership with how

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<v Speaker 1>stuff works dot com, and it's produced by Tyler Clang.

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