Section 1: The Long Term Effects Of A Volcanic Eruption

     In 2010, Mount Merapi, one of the world’s most volatile and dangerous volcanoes, erupted with much force, causing much damage and losses to many. In this section, I’ll be investigating about what are the long term effects of this eruption.

     Prior to the eruption, thousands of people living on the volcano’s fertile slopes began evacuating as Merapi started erupting and sending hot ash and rocks high in the air.

     As such, the lives of many people living in the region of the volcanoes were disrupted as they had to evacuate in order to save their lives from this potentially dangerous disaster.

     Based on the evidence provided from the different individual sources and interviews with different renowned geologists from different parts of the world, I hereby present the different long-term effects posed to different audiences depending on the perspectives that we would be looking at. I would be talking about this on two main levels, firstly on the positive benefits it would bring to people and lastly, the negative effects that the volcano eruptions would cause.

      So now, on to my first substantive. Considering the fact that there are many paddy fields surrounding the exterior of Mount Merapi, many of the peasants decide to settle there and adopt farming as their career. As such, upon the release of the ash from the volcano, it would travel down to the city and hit the paddy fields. Due to the time required for the ash to travel, the temperature of the ash would not be as hot as what it was extruded as but in a cooler temperature. The ashes would travel down and end up resting on the paddy fields. Due to the nutrients that the ashes contain, it would be able to fertilise the land and make it fertile and suitable for farming. Due to the benefits posed as such, the people would choose to settle in the nearer regions of the volcano as they see the potential chance of the land becoming fertile for their farming purposes.

     Next, moving on to my next substantive on about the negative aspects on how different audiences would be negatively affected by the volcanic eruptions of Mount Merapi. Due to fact that Merapi is surrounded by many paddy fields and they are heavily populated by people who lived in the region of Merapi. One of the negative threats posed to them would be that they might eventually suffer from respiratory problems due to the exposure and breathing of smoke into their health systems. As the volcano would spew out smoke frequently due to the fact that Merapi is an active volcano, the villagers who reside on the vicinity of the volcano would be exposed to smoke and inhale the smoke into their health systems. In such events, after a period of time due to the inhaling of smoke, they would eventually have respiratory system problems and would pose a threat to their lives. This is especially dangerous as they might die or become seriously ill due to this.

     Next, as the pyroclastic flow would roll down from the volcano, native animals who are unable to escape from the hot larva would be killed in a matter of seconds, while some may escape to other places to take refuge. Over time, food chains will also be altered as the animals, who are the main source of food for the native villagers, are now gone, and the food chain and left unbalanced, many insects will have grown rampant in the city, and if there are still inhabitants, many of them will succumb to Malaria and other diseases. Over time, as many of these animals continue to perish, the population of these animals would suffer a tremendous dip into productivity.

     Lastly, there will also be a huge problem concerning 'Lahar', every time it rains. When the pyroclastic materials mix with large amounts of water, 'lahars' (which is a type of mudflow) are formed, which can flood and bury not only houses but also towns. This is an aftermath result of a volcanic eruption. Due to the burying of houses and towns, many villagers would be left homeless and would have to reside in makeshift shelters for the time being. The long term effect of this would be that it would put a strain on the governments to reconstruct the properties of these people. Over time, the government does not have the ability to provide for everyone in the country that is affected by this.

      To clear the air about the financial district(s) being affected, the area where Merapi resides is not a huge contributor to the financial economy, it would be not necessarily devastating to the financial economy but the main strain is still on the government as they would need to provide for the people who are affected by the volcanic eruption.

      To sum up my case, I have presented the long term effects of a volcanic eruption using Mount Merapi in Indonesia as my case study.


- Written And Vetted By Yap Way Shen Russell