Volcanoes on borders: a scientific and (geo)political challenge

Abstract

While the scientific community readily collaborates across international borders, the boundaries of administrative unitsparticularly the nation-state-can be critical in defining the availability of scientific resources, the management of crises and the use of land. Managing border eruptions can be particularly challenging when international relations between the relevant nation-states are strained or complex or when political agendas become involved. Given that over 700 volcanoes lie within 100 km of an international border, and over 1300 are within 250 km, the potential for cross-border eruption impacts is significant. This paper aims to provide an overview of the topic. It presents results from a global study of volcanoes on or near borders and uses five case studies to highlight key issues that arise in the management of risk at such volcanoes. While volcano monitoring provides critical support for hazard assessment and decision-making, its availability depends on the policies of particular governments and institutions. Furthermore, the complexity and diversity of volcanic hazards, activity and impacts can exacerbate existing cross-border inequalities in vulnerabilities, in scientific resources, in disaster management and mitigation capacity and indeed public awareness. We suggest that pre-crisis planning and communication, resource sharing and international agreements can help to mitigate the challenges of cross-border eruptions.

Interdisciplinary research in hazards and disaster risk

“…Meteorological offices also often take responsibility for certain hazards, sometimes (e.g., in Iceland) including the geohazards. Numerous authors have called for transboundary cooperation in the spatial domain (Birkmann et al 2021; Boin and Lodge 2016; Donovan and Oppenheimer 2019; Timmerman 2020). The dynamics of such cooperation are not straightforward.…”

Volcano monitoring in Latin America: taking a step forward

“…Countries in the region with no active volcanoes, like Honduras, Brazil, and Venezuela, should not be overlooked, as they can also be impacted by ash fallout. An additional challenge is posed by volcanoes located on borders between countries [Donovan and Oppenheimer 2019]. The auspicious first joint efforts that have been made by Argentina-Chile and Colombia-Ecuador need to be intensified as well as reproduced in other countries with similar scenarios, such as Mexico and Guatemala [Espinasa-Pereña et al 2021, this issue].…”

<i>Earth Girl Volcano</i>: characterizing and conveying volcanic hazard complexity in an interactive casual game of disaster preparedness and response

“…The facial expressions in the game echo the character's written dialog, often times in a humorous way. It is widely accepted that facial expressions are effective conduits for emotional feedback (Ekman, 2007), and we developed for each character sets of the seven emotions that are widely used throughout the character animation industry. These seven emotions are happiness, sadness, surprise, anger, fear, contempt, and disgust.…”