Volcanology Is a Young Science
Phoenix emphasizes that volcanology is a relatively new science, having only entered its modern era in the early 1980s. While eruptions themselves are impossible to predict, the science of keeping track of the symptoms of eruptions, like using seismometers around the volcano to record earthquakes that precede eruptions, taking measurements of gas emissions, and monitoring pressurized magma that could indicate a possible eruption, is getting better and better.
“What we are trying to do, what the scientific community has been moving towards, is having better forecasts for these eruptions,” Phoenix said. “And that means we monitor the heck out of volcanoes and actually protect people’s lives and property as best as possible. We’re a lot better prepared than we were even just a couple decades ago.”
