Question: what is the most dangerous thing about studying volcanoes?

Elena Maters answered on 13 Nov 2019:

Volcanoes can be dangerous in different ways. Gases released by a volcano like sulphur dioxide and hydrochloric acid are toxic and can cause damage to eyes, throat, and lungs, so we often wear a gas mask if we have to do measurements close to a ‘degassing’ volcano. The biggest danger though is probably an explosive eruption, which violently ejects a hot mixture of gases and rocks of different sizes (from lava bombs as big as a car to ash particles as small as flour grains) into the sky. When volcanologists need to do work near/on a volcano, they are very careful to check with local scientists and observatories who are responsible for monitoring the volcano’s activity to understand whether there are signs that an eruption might occur. There are many different ways of monitoring volcanoes including using seismometers (detects ground motion) and taking gas measurements, and if there is any evidence that an eruption is likely then we will not any risks by approaching too close to take samples or measurements. Safety first! 🙂