*By Anne Cleary

The environmental movement is shifting away from focusing solely on raising awareness about environmental issues. Many environmental agencies and organisations now also aim to connect people with nature, and our new research suggests daily doses of urban nature may be the key to this for the majority who live in cities.

Every year in the United Kingdom the Wildlife Trusts run the 30 Days Wild campaign. This encourages people to carry out a daily “random act of wildness” for the month of June. The International Union for Conservation of Nature recently launched its #NatureForAll program, which aims to inspire a love of nature.

This shift in focus is starting to appear in environmental policy. For example, the UK’s recent 25-year environment plan identifies connecting people with the environment as one of its six key areas. Similarly, in Australia, the state of Victoria’s Biodiversity 2037 plan aims to connect all Victorians to nature as one of two overarching objectives.

The thinking behind such efforts is simple: connecting people to nature will motivate them to act in ways that protect and care for nature. Evidence does suggest that people who have a high nature connection are likely to display pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours.

Looking beyond the park

What is less clear is how to enhance an individual’s nature connection – that is feeling that they are a part of nature. Over half of all people globally, and nine out of ten people in Australia, live in urban environments. This reduces their opportunities to experience and connect with nature.

Our new study may offer some answers. A survey of Brisbane residents showed that people who experienced nature during childhood or had regular contact with nature in their home and suburb were more likely to report feeling connected with nature.

The study used a broad definition of urban nature to include all the plants and animals that live in a city. When looking to connect urban residents with local nature we need to take a broad view and look “beyond the park”. All aspects of nature in the city offer a potential opportunity for people to experience nature and develop their sense of connection to it.

The study also looked at the relationship between childhood and adult nature experiences. Results suggest that people who lack childhood experience of nature can still come to have a high sense of nature connection by experiencing nature as an adult.

There have been focused efforts on connecting children to nature, such as the Forest Schools and Nature Play programs. Equal effort should be given to promoting adult nature experiences and nature connection, particularly for people who lack such experiences.

The benefits of nature experience

We still have much to discover about how an individual’s nature connection is shaped. We need a better understanding of how people from diverse cultural and social contexts experience and connect to different types of nature. That said, we are starting to understand the important role that frequent local experiences of nature may play.

In addition to boosting people’s sense of nature connection, daily doses of urban nature deliver the benefits of improved physical, mental and social wellbeing. A growing evidence base is showing that exposure to nature, particularly in urban environments, can lead to healthier and happier city dwellers.

Robert Dunn and colleagues have already advocated for the importance of urban nature experiences as a way to bolster city residents’ support for conservation. They described the “pigeon paradox” whereby experiencing urban nature, which is often of low ecological value – such as interactions with non-native species – may have wider environmental benefits through people behaving in more environmentally conscious ways. They proposed that the future of conservation depended on city residents’ ability to experience urban nature.

As new evidence emerges we need to build on this thinking. It would seem that the future of our very connection to nature, our wellbeing and conservation depend on urban people’s ability to experience urban nature.

*Anne Cleary is a Research Fellow, School of Medicine at the Griffith University.

(This article was originally published on <a href="https://theconversation.com/ca">The Conversation</a>. Read the&nbsp;<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-daily-doses-of-nature-in-the-city-matter-for-people-and-the-planet-106918">original article</a>)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

*By Anne Cleary The environmental movement is shifting away from focusing solely on raising awareness about environmental issues. Many environmental agencies and organisations now also aim to connect people with nature, and our new research suggests daily doses of urban nature may be the key to this for the majority who live in cities.

*By Anne Cleary The environmental movement is shifting away from focusing solely on raising awareness about environmental issues. Many environmental agencies and organisations now also aim to connect people with nature, and our new research suggests daily doses of urban nature may be the key to this for the majority who live in cities. Every year in the United Kingdom the Wildlife Trusts run the 30 Days Wild campaign. This encourages people to carry out a daily “random act of wildness” for the month of June. The International Union for Conservation of Nature recently launched its #NatureForAll program, which aims to inspire a love of nature. This shift in focus is starting to appear in environmental policy. For example, the UK’s recent 25-year environment plan identifies connecting people with the environment as one of its six key areas. Similarly, in Australia, the state of Victoria’s Biodiversity 2037 plan aims to connect all Victorians to nature as one of two overarching objectives. The thinking behind such efforts is simple: connecting people to nature will motivate them to act in ways that protect and care for nature. Evidence does suggest that people who have a high nature connection are likely to display pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours. Looking beyond the park What is less clear is how to enhance an individual’s nature connection – that is feeling that they are a part of nature. Over half of all people globally, and nine out of ten people in Australia, live in urban environments. This reduces their opportunities to experience and connect with nature. Our new study may offer some answers. A survey of Brisbane residents showed that people who experienced nature during childhood or had regular contact with nature in their home and suburb were more likely to report feeling connected with nature. The study used a broad definition of urban nature to include all the plants and animals that live in a city. When looking to connect urban residents with local nature we need to take a broad view and look “beyond the park”. All aspects of nature in the city offer a potential opportunity for people to experience nature and develop their sense of connection to it. The study also looked at the relationship between childhood and adult nature experiences. Results suggest that people who lack childhood experience of nature can still come to have a high sense of nature connection by experiencing nature as an adult. There have been focused efforts on connecting children to nature, such as the Forest Schools and Nature Play programs. Equal effort should be given to promoting adult nature experiences and nature connection, particularly for people who lack such experiences. The benefits of nature experience We still have much to discover about how an individual’s nature connection is shaped. We need a better understanding of how people from diverse cultural and social contexts experience and connect to different types of nature. That said, we are starting to understand the important role that frequent local experiences of nature may play. In addition to boosting people’s sense of nature connection, daily doses of urban nature deliver the benefits of improved physical, mental and social wellbeing. A growing evidence base is showing that exposure to nature, particularly in urban environments, can lead to healthier and happier city dwellers. Robert Dunn and colleagues have already advocated for the importance of urban nature experiences as a way to bolster city residents’ support for conservation. They described the “pigeon paradox” whereby experiencing urban nature, which is often of low ecological value – such as interactions with non-native species – may have wider environmental benefits through people behaving in more environmentally conscious ways. They proposed that the future of conservation depended on city residents’ ability to experience urban nature. As new evidence emerges we need to build on this thinking. It would seem that the future of our very connection to nature, our wellbeing and conservation depend on urban people’s ability to experience urban nature. *Anne Cleary is a Research Fellow, School of Medicine at the Griffith University. (This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Why daily doses of nature in the city matter for people and the planet

We tend to think that nature and cities are polar opposites. Yet this is not true. As my research on Bangalore or Bengaluru &ndash; India&rsquo;s IT hub &ndash; shows, for centuries, the population of this region grew because of nature, not despite it.

In my book Nature in the City: Bengaluru in the Past, Present and Future, I take a deep dive into the ecological history of an Indian city, going way back in the past to the 6th century CE.

Inscriptions on stone and copper plates show that the starting point for a new village was often the creation of a tank, or lake, to collect rainwater &ndash; essential and life-giving in this unfavourable low-rainfall environment. These inscriptions provide fascinating insights into the close relationship that these early residents had with nature. They describe the landscape as consisting of the lakes, the surrounding irrigated and dry land, the &ldquo;wells above&rdquo;, and the &ldquo;trees below&rdquo;. This three-dimensional view of the landscape, consisting of two major resources, water (lake) and food (agriculture), nourished by nature below (in the form of wells) and above (in the form of trees) is a remarkably holistic conception of nature.

Unfortunately, in today&rsquo;s urbanised India, we have lost all trace of this three-dimensional vision.

Declining sources of water

The&nbsp;central areas of Bangalore had 1960 open wells in 1885; today, there are fewer than 50. Bangalore also lost many of its lakes, which were considered to be filthy breeding grounds for malaria, and converted to bus stands, malls, housing, and other built spaces.

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false"><img alt="" draggable="false" src="http://s.wionews.com/photos/banglore%201-20171027045838.jpg" />
<div class="media-description">
Sree Kanteerava stadium was built in 1997, where Sampangi lake used to be located before. (Others)
</div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="javascript:void(0)" id="jqclosemark">&times;</a></div>

The city&rsquo;s central Sampangi lake, which supplied water to many parts of Bangalore in the 19th century, was transformed into a sports stadium by the 20th century, leaving behind only a tiny pond for ceremonial religious purposes. As long as lakes and wells supplied water, essential for the activities of daily life, they were worshipped as sacred and protected as life-giving.

Rituals celebrating the overflowing of lakes during the monsoon by paying homage to the lake goddess kept the importance of lakes in the forefront of people&rsquo;s imaginations. But once the piped water began to be provided in the 1890s, these water bodies began to decay. By the end of the 19th century, wells and lakes began to be polluted with garbage, sewage, and even corpses during times of epidemics and disease.

Citizens nurturing nature

What transformed this centuries-long, strong relationship between people and nature? When Bangalore shattered its local loop of dependence by importing water from outside, people forgot the importance of their local sources of water.

Yet, as our research has shown, Bangalore still needs water just as badly for its resilience. The city has grown so large that piped water from distant rivers can no longer supply all its needs.

Thus resurgent citizen movements across Bangalore have begun to focus on protecting and restoring lakes in their neighbourhoods, which will also recharge the water below ground. In some low-income settlements, where adequate water supply is a constant challenge, community wells, once ignored, are now being assiduously protected and maintained as well.

The same pattern &ndash; of an early, close relationship with nature, followed by a break, and later a resurgent interest in the connection &ndash; is also playing out when it comes to trees. Early residents did not only focus on water but also &ldquo;greened&rdquo; this dusty, hot landscape of the dry Deccan plateau. Successive rulers from the 16th century onwards and common citizens planted millions of trees over centuries.

Each settlement was greened with a gundathope&nbsp;&ndash; a woodlot commonly planted with fruiting trees, jackfruit, mango and tamarind &ndash; which provided shade, fruits, firewood for cooking, grazing material for cattle, and occasionally timber as well.

When one tree was chopped down, another was planted to ensure continuity. New areas of the city were assiduously greened by administrators, who planted trees, and residents, who watered and cared for them, benefiting from the services they provided. This practice of greening continued during the British colonial period of governance, and later into the 20th century, after Indian independence. Because of the cool climate of Bangalore &ndash; in part due to its location on a plateau, but also because of its lakes and trees, created, planted and nurtured by local residents and rulers over centuries &ndash; the city became a chosen location for the British army, and later as a science and industrial hub in south India.

It is no accident that Bangalore, once called India&rsquo;s lake city and garden city, became the country&rsquo;s IT capital.

Soaring temperatures and rising air pollution

By the late 20th century, this relationship had begun to fray. With rapid growth, roads and other built infrastructure gained importance in the minds of planners. As a consequence, trees were disregarded and felled in their thousands for development projects in Bangalore.

Inevitably, with more private vehicles on the road, and fewer trees, the city became hotter, and the air severely polluted. Citizens soon realised this connection. So did academics. Our research, for instance, demonstrated that trees cool the air by 3 to 5&ordm;C, and reduce the temperature of the road surface by as much as 23&ordm;C, as well as significantly reducing air pollution.

Social media to the rescue

Yet citizen movements did not fade. In the early 21st century, the nonagerian Honnamma Govindayya has become an epitome of struggles to protect Bangalore&rsquo;s environment.

She fought against real estate developers who wanted to convert a local park that her children played in, taking a case all the way to the Supreme Court of India. She won and saved a tiny but very important patch of green from destruction.

Mass citizen protests in recent years have continued and gained significant victories for the city&rsquo;s green cover, including the reversal of a controversial decision to build a steel flyover, which would have destroyed thousands of trees.

Today these movements are strongly supported by social media. In the flyover case, the twitter tag #steelflyoverbeda (&ldquo;beda&rdquo; meaning &ldquo;no&rdquo; in the local language, Kannada) went viral, attracting hundreds of followers.

Social media has provided an easier way for once-isolated groups of people to connect and coordinate, and often to ratchet up public pressure on nature-blind administrators. Who knows how many would have supported Honamma Govindayya if she had a Twitter account then?

Understanding the history of nature reveals a very different picture from the preconceived idea that, at least in countries like India, where the pressures of development and growth are so large, nature and cities cannot coexist.

Today, this perspective on the ecological history of Bangalore can help city-dwellers worldwide understand why nature in the city is not just important for the metropolis&rsquo;s past, but also essential for its resilient future.

<figure>
This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" target="blank">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/when-cities-were-natures-haven-a-tale-from-bangalore-85411" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" target="blank">original article</a>.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia
</figure>

With the pressures of rapid growth and development cities in India are losing its ecological balance

We tend to think that nature and cities are polar opposites. Yet this is not true. As my research on Bangalore or Bengaluru – India’s IT hub – shows, for centuries, the population of this region grew because of nature, not despite it. In my book Nature in the City: Bengaluru in the Past, Present and Future, I take a deep dive into the ecological history of an Indian city, going way back in the past to the 6th century CE. Inscriptions on stone and copper plates show that the starting point for a new village was often the creation of a tank, or lake, to collect rainwater – essential and life-giving in this unfavourable low-rainfall environment. These inscriptions provide fascinating insights into the close relationship that these early residents had with nature. They describe the landscape as consisting of the lakes, the surrounding irrigated and dry land, the “wells above”, and the “trees below”. This three-dimensional view of the landscape, consisting of two major resources, water (lake) and food (agriculture), nourished by nature below (in the form of wells) and above (in the form of trees) is a remarkably holistic conception of nature. Unfortunately, in today’s urbanised India, we have lost all trace of this three-dimensional vision. Declining sources of water The central areas of Bangalore had 1960 open wells in 1885; today, there are fewer than 50. Bangalore also lost many of its lakes, which were considered to be filthy breeding grounds for malaria, and converted to bus stands, malls, housing, and other built spaces. Sree Kanteerava stadium was built in 1997, where Sampangi lake used to be located before. (Others) × The city’s central Sampangi lake, which supplied water to many parts of Bangalore in the 19th century, was transformed into a sports stadium by the 20th century, leaving behind only a tiny pond for ceremonial religious purposes. As long as lakes and wells supplied water, essential for the activities of daily life, they were worshipped as sacred and protected as life-giving. Rituals celebrating the overflowing of lakes during the monsoon by paying homage to the lake goddess kept the importance of lakes in the forefront of people’s imaginations. But once the piped water began to be provided in the 1890s, these water bodies began to decay. By the end of the 19th century, wells and lakes began to be polluted with garbage, sewage, and even corpses during times of epidemics and disease. Citizens nurturing nature What transformed this centuries-long, strong relationship between people and nature? When Bangalore shattered its local loop of dependence by importing water from outside, people forgot the importance of their local sources of water. Yet, as our research has shown, Bangalore still needs water just as badly for its resilience. The city has grown so large that piped water from distant rivers can no longer supply all its needs. Thus resurgent citizen movements across Bangalore have begun to focus on protecting and restoring lakes in their neighbourhoods, which will also recharge the water below ground. In some low-income settlements, where adequate water supply is a constant challenge, community wells, once ignored, are now being assiduously protected and maintained as well. The same pattern – of an early, close relationship with nature, followed by a break, and later a resurgent interest in the connection – is also playing out when it comes to trees. Early residents did not only focus on water but also “greened” this dusty, hot landscape of the dry Deccan plateau. Successive rulers from the 16th century onwards and common citizens planted millions of trees over centuries. Each settlement was greened with a gundathope – a woodlot commonly planted with fruiting trees, jackfruit, mango and tamarind – which provided shade, fruits, firewood for cooking, grazing material for cattle, and occasionally timber as well. When one tree was chopped down, another was planted to ensure continuity. New areas of the city were assiduously greened by administrators, who planted trees, and residents, who watered and cared for them, benefiting from the services they provided. This practice of greening continued during the British colonial period of governance, and later into the 20th century, after Indian independence. Because of the cool climate of Bangalore – in part due to its location on a plateau, but also because of its lakes and trees, created, planted and nurtured by local residents and rulers over centuries – the city became a chosen location for the British army, and later as a science and industrial hub in south India. It is no accident that Bangalore, once called India’s lake city and garden city, became the country’s IT capital. Soaring temperatures and rising air pollution By the late 20th century, this relationship had begun to fray. With rapid growth, roads and other built infrastructure gained importance in the minds of planners. As a consequence, trees were disregarded and felled in their thousands for development projects in Bangalore. Inevitably, with more private vehicles on the road, and fewer trees, the city became hotter, and the air severely polluted. Citizens soon realised this connection. So did academics. Our research, for instance, demonstrated that trees cool the air by 3 to 5ºC, and reduce the temperature of the road surface by as much as 23ºC, as well as significantly reducing air pollution. Social media to the rescue Yet citizen movements did not fade. In the early 21st century, the nonagerian Honnamma Govindayya has become an epitome of struggles to protect Bangalore’s environment. She fought against real estate developers who wanted to convert a local park that her children played in, taking a case all the way to the Supreme Court of India. She won and saved a tiny but very important patch of green from destruction. Mass citizen protests in recent years have continued and gained significant victories for the city’s green cover, including the reversal of a controversial decision to build a steel flyover, which would have destroyed thousands of trees. Today these movements are strongly supported by social media. In the flyover case, the twitter tag #steelflyoverbeda (“beda” meaning “no” in the local language, Kannada) went viral, attracting hundreds of followers. Social media has provided an easier way for once-isolated groups of people to connect and coordinate, and often to ratchet up public pressure on nature-blind administrators. Who knows how many would have supported Honamma Govindayya if she had a Twitter account then? Understanding the history of nature reveals a very different picture from the preconceived idea that, at least in countries like India, where the pressures of development and growth are so large, nature and cities cannot coexist. Today, this perspective on the ecological history of Bangalore can help city-dwellers worldwide understand why nature in the city is not just important for the metropolis’s past, but also essential for its resilient future. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. Photo Credit: Wikimedia

When cities were nature's haven: A tale from Bangalore

The oldest fossils ever found are &quot;direct evidence&quot; of life on Earth 3.8 to 4.3 billion years ago, researchers reported ON Wednesday in the journal Nature.

Even at the lower end of the spectrum, &quot;the microfossils we discovered are about 300 million years older&quot; than any runners-up, said Dominic Papineau, a professor at University College London who made the discovery.

The fact that life kick-started not long after Earth formed suggests it could also emerge on watery worlds outside our Solar System at comparable stages of formation, the scientists said.

&quot;If life happened so quickly on Earth, then could we expect it to be a simple process that could start on other planets?&quot;, asked lead author Matthew Dodd, a graduate student at the London Centre for Nanotechnology.

Earth and Mars had liquid water on their surfaces at the same time, he noted.

&quot;We could expect to find evidence for past life on Mars four billion years ago,&quot; Dodd said.

It may also be true, he added, that Earth was &quot;just a special case&quot;.

The tiny fossils -- half the width of a human hair and up to half-a-millimetre in length -- take the form of blood-red tubes and filaments formed by ocean-dwelling bacteria that fed on iron.

Locked inside white, flower-like quartz structures known to harbour fossils, they were found along what were once warm-water vents on the ocean floor, most often in deep waters.

Such iron-rich, hydrothermal systems exist today&nbsp;and are home to bacteria that may be similar to those unearthed by Dodd and his colleagues.

Known as the Nuvvuagittuq Supracrustal Belt, the site of the discovery contains some of the oldest sedimentary rocks known on Earth.&nbsp;

Strong evidence of life

They formed between 3.77 and 4.29 billion years ago&nbsp;and may have been the habitat for the planet&#39;s first life forms.

It is still not known when, or where, life on Earth began, but these deep-sea vents are seen as a good candidate.

Earth is thought to be about 4.57 billion years old.

Previous claims of super-ancient fossils have been challenged by scientists asking whether they are, in fact, natural mineral formations of some kind.

&quot;One of the big questions when it comes to early life studies is whether or not the organic carbon we find in these rocks is actually biological in origin,&quot; explained Dodd.

(AFP)

Lead author Matthew Dodd of 'Nature' said we could also expect to find evidence for past life on Mars four billion years ago

The oldest fossils ever found are "direct evidence" of life on Earth 3.8 to 4.3 billion years ago, researchers reported ON Wednesday in the journal Nature. Even at the lower end of the spectrum, "the microfossils we discovered are about 300 million years older" than any runners-up, said Dominic Papineau, a professor at University College London who made the discovery. The fact that life kick-started not long after Earth formed suggests it could also emerge on watery worlds outside our Solar System at comparable stages of formation, the scientists said. "If life happened so quickly on Earth, then could we expect it to be a simple process that could start on other planets?", asked lead author Matthew Dodd, a graduate student at the London Centre for Nanotechnology. Earth and Mars had liquid water on their surfaces at the same time, he noted. "We could expect to find evidence for past life on Mars four billion years ago," Dodd said. It may also be true, he added, that Earth was "just a special case". The tiny fossils -- half the width of a human hair and up to half-a-millimetre in length -- take the form of blood-red tubes and filaments formed by ocean-dwelling bacteria that fed on iron. Locked inside white, flower-like quartz structures known to harbour fossils, they were found along what were once warm-water vents on the ocean floor, most often in deep waters. Such iron-rich, hydrothermal systems exist today and are home to bacteria that may be similar to those unearthed by Dodd and his colleagues. Known as the Nuvvuagittuq Supracrustal Belt, the site of the discovery contains some of the oldest sedimentary rocks known on Earth. Strong evidence of life They formed between 3.77 and 4.29 billion years ago and may have been the habitat for the planet's first life forms. It is still not known when, or where, life on Earth began, but these deep-sea vents are seen as a good candidate. Earth is thought to be about 4.57 billion years old. Previous claims of super-ancient fossils have been challenged by scientists asking whether they are, in fact, natural mineral formations of some kind. "One of the big questions when it comes to early life studies is whether or not the organic carbon we find in these rocks is actually biological in origin," explained Dodd. (AFP)

Oldest fossils point to life on Earth about 4 billion years ago

When it comes to volcanoes, silence can say a lot. 
 
A team of researchers has found that volcanoes go lull before they erupt - a finding that could give scientists a leg up on predicting blow-ups and saving lives.

When dormant volcanoes are about to erupt, they show some predictive characteristics, but until now, there has not been a way to forecast eruptions of more restless volcanoes because of the constant seismic activity and gas and steam emissions.

Carnegie volcanologist Diana Roman, working with a team of scientists from Penn State, Oxford University, the University of Iceland, and INETER, has shown that periods of seismic quiet occur immediately before eruptions, and can thus be used to forecast an impending eruption for restless volcanoes. The duration of the silence can indicate the level of energy that will be released when eruption occurs.&nbsp;Longer quiet periods mean a bigger bang.

The team monitored a sequence of eruptions at the Telica Volcano in Nicaragua in 2011.

It is a so-called stratovolcano, with a classic-looking cone built up by many layers of lava and ash. They started monitoring Telica in 2009 with various instruments, and by 2011 they had a comprehensive network within 2.5 miles (4 kilometres) of the volcano`s summit. Of the 50 explosions that occurred, 35 had preceding quiet periods lasting 30 minutes or longer. 
 
Thirteen explosions were preceded by quiet intervals of at least five minutes. Only two of the 50 did not have any quiet period preceding the explosion.

&quot;It is the proverbial calm before the storm,&quot; remarked Roman. &quot;The icing on the cake is that we could also use these quiet periods to forecast the amount of energy released.&quot;

The research is published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 
 
(ANI)

This discovery could help predict volcanic activity and forecast the amount of energy to be released upon eruption

When it comes to volcanoes, silence can say a lot. A team of researchers has found that volcanoes go lull before they erupt - a finding that could give scientists a leg up on predicting blow-ups and saving lives. When dormant volcanoes are about to erupt, they show some predictive characteristics, but until now, there has not been a way to forecast eruptions of more restless volcanoes because of the constant seismic activity and gas and steam emissions. Carnegie volcanologist Diana Roman, working with a team of scientists from Penn State, Oxford University, the University of Iceland, and INETER, has shown that periods of seismic quiet occur immediately before eruptions, and can thus be used to forecast an impending eruption for restless volcanoes. The duration of the silence can indicate the level of energy that will be released when eruption occurs. Longer quiet periods mean a bigger bang. The team monitored a sequence of eruptions at the Telica Volcano in Nicaragua in 2011. It is a so-called stratovolcano, with a classic-looking cone built up by many layers of lava and ash. They started monitoring Telica in 2009 with various instruments, and by 2011 they had a comprehensive network within 2.5 miles (4 kilometres) of the volcano`s summit. Of the 50 explosions that occurred, 35 had preceding quiet periods lasting 30 minutes or longer. Thirteen explosions were preceded by quiet intervals of at least five minutes. Only two of the 50 did not have any quiet period preceding the explosion. "It is the proverbial calm before the storm," remarked Roman. "The icing on the cake is that we could also use these quiet periods to forecast the amount of energy released." The research is published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters. (ANI)

Volcanoes go silent before eruption

nature

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