From green to grey, sunny to smokey- the island Bali is reliving an all too familiar nightmare, the eruption of Mount Argung. The vibrant Indonesian island, that is only slightly bigger than the state of Delaware, has already evacuated several hundred thousand people. Typically the island is overflowing with tourists from nearby countries such as Australia, England and Japan, but now said people are trapped on the island as it drifts in and out of aviation red alert due volcanic ash. Their main airport, Ngurah Rai International, was already entirely closed for 24 hours on Monday, the 27 of November. Even the 13 year old Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown was left grounded on for 10 days due to the ongoing disaster, which began early in September.
The last time Bali experienced such mayhem was in 1963 when after 120 years of dormancy the volcano awoke to go on and kill nearly 2,000 individuals. That eruption was one of the strongest of the 20th century, measuring a 5 out of 7 on the VEI scale, or volcano explosively index. But even that overall was considered just a “normal” eruption.
Despite the level 4 alert issued by the National Agency for Disaster and the efforts from officials, people are still going back to the base of the volcano. As an island who’s population is mostly Hinduism its people believe that returning to their homes and land periodically to say a prayer will protect them.The sense of uncertainty with the monster that is simply waiting to blow at any moment is causing quite a strain on both the locals and tourists, which make up the majority of the economy.
Though they may seem like just a small speck on our world map, the island now has the potential to change the entire world due to this imminent disaster. Sulfur dioxide, a gas released during volcano eruptions, causes certain reactions that allow for the surrounding areas of an eruption to be left at cooler temperatures. So if an eruption is big enough it could even cause some of the surrounding continents to experience cooler weather, which is said not to be such a bad thing according to scientists.
The beautiful island has gone through this once before and can hopefully get through it again and come out as strong as ever- we may not be near, but we are here for you Bali!
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