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The Irish Sun
30-04-2025
- The Irish Sun
Fears US mega volcano eruption could spark travel chaos across the world as experts warn it could explode ‘IN WEEKS'
A MASSIVE Alaskan volcano is on the brink of erupting — and terrified experts warn it could happen within weeks. Mount Spurr, the 11,000-foot behemoth sitting just 80 miles west of Advertisement 5 Mount Spurr vents steam and ash, near Anchorage, Alaska Credit: Getty 5 Experts predict the volcano - pictured here erupting in 1992 - could blow again in just a few weeks Credit: U.S Geological Survey 5 The potential blast, experts say, could unleash global travel chaos and choke a critical cargo route between North America and The 'Most of the earthquakes that are occurring under the volcano are too small to be located.' If it blows, the fallout could ground flights worldwide. Advertisement Read more on volcanoes A massive ash cloud could shoot 50,000 feet into the air, forcing nearby Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) and Fairbanks International Airport (FAI) to shut down — sparking a ripple effect across global air travel. 'Mount Spurr has the potential to snare travel and cargo logistics, resulting in disruptions that extend far beyond the Alaskan border,' experts warned. The AVO has been tracking the volcano's increasing activity since April 2024, monitoring telltale signs like shallow quakes, ground deformation, and gas and steam emissions. And they all point to one thing — that magma level is rising. Advertisement Most read in Science Scientist-in-charge Matt Haney told the that if Spurr blows again, the event 'would be explosive,' adding it would likely mimic the volcano's last eruption in 1992. Back then, three blasts rocked Alaska over the summer, with August's eruption shutting down Anchorage's airport for 20 hours and blanketing the city in an eighth of an inch of ash. Tourists evacuated as volcano starts erupting in Iceland hols hotspot & red alert issued as magma builds up Commerce ground to a halt, office buildings shuttered, and $2 million in damages were reported. The ash isn't just a nuisance — it's deadly to aircraft. Its fine particles can shred engines, corrode cockpit windows, damage fuselage, and knock out vital instruments mid-flight. Advertisement 'It is extremely dangerous to fly a plane while a volcanic eruption is occurring nearby,' the AVO warned. ANC is a crucial cog in the global supply chain — the world's fourth-busiest cargo airport, handling over 8,000 freight flights each month. Even minor disruptions can delay shipments, e-commerce, and manufacturing deliveries. A total shutdown would bring it all to a standstill. Advertisement And as one of the top diversion and refuelling spots for polar and Pacific air routes, any closure at ANC or FAI would force passenger flights from Asia, Europe, and North America to divert, triggering delays and chaos across multiple continents. 5 Mount Spurr last erupted in 1992, causing major disruption to Anchorage Credit: Alamy 5 Enormous plumes of smoke engulfed the skies Credit: U.S Geological Survey 'There are no residents living in the 'identified hazard areas for pyroclastic flows and lahars,'' the AVO said. Advertisement But the ashfall could rain on Anchorage and spread across the central US within days — just as it did in 1992. The mountain's warning level was upgraded from green to yellow in October 2024 after a small lake formed in its summit crater. Since then, 'seismic activity remained elevated with numerous small, shallow volcanic earthquakes detected beneath the volcano,' the AVO reported. Experts say the final red flag will be a volcanic tremor — a constant shaking that lasts minutes to days — signaling magma is on the move. Advertisement That's exactly what happened three weeks before Mount Spurr blew in June 1992. 'Alaska's Mount Spurr is about to erupt. Be ready,' the AVO posted on X. And with the clock ticking, officials are urging residents and air traffic operators alike to brace for a blast that could bring the skies — and global trade — to a grinding halt. How do volcanoes erupt? Volcanoes are formed when a hot liquid like substance called magma breaks through the Earth's crust Once the magma reaches the surface and gushes into the air, this is known as a volcanic eruption Volcanic eruptions can release lava, rocks, dust, volcanic ash and toxic gases into the atmosphere Some eruptions are huge and kill lots of people but other eruptions can be small flows of lava that are easily avoided Volcanoes normally give off warning sides before an eruption occurs, such as tremors or gases, and this gives people nearby time to evacuate
Reuters
07-04-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Trump strategy threatens critical mineral supplies for clean power
Summary President Trump's sweeping tariff and policy shifts could undermine plans to expand U.S. production of critical minerals for clean power. April 7 - U.S. solar, wind and battery developers depend heavily on imports of highly processed critical minerals from China, making them particularly sensitive to an escalating global tariff war under the Trump administration. On April 4, China placed export restrictions on rare earth elements as part of a sweeping response to U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs, squeezing supply to the West of minerals used to make a wide range of goods in energy, defense, and electronics. President Trump has introduced a 20% tariff on all Chinese imports, retained the Biden administration's decision to increase tariffs on lithium batteries from China from 7.5% to 25% from January 2026 and slapped a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminium imports and all imports from Mexico and Canada. Meanwhile, U.S. antidumping and countervailing duties (AD/CVD) are set to be imposed on imports of Chinese active anode materials used in battery storage technology. The U.S Geological Survey classifies 50 minerals as critical. Cobalt, lithium, manganese and nickel are used in energy storage systems and electric vehicles while copper is used in solar panels and electrical connections, silicon in PV panels, and graphite in lithium-ion batteries. Arsenic, gallium and tellurium are also used in solar cells. China controls about 60% of global critical minerals' production and 85% of global processing capacity, with much of the remaining capacity located in countries with heavy Chinese investment, such as Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) and Indonesia. CHART: Critical minerals - share of top three countries Source: Federation of American Scientists. Data source: IEA. Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab Consumption of minerals is rising rapidly and high level processing and refining of lithium, cobalt, graphite and rare earth elements are the key bottlenecks for the clean power industry, Tom Moerenhout, Research Scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University, told Reuters Events. Global demand for lithium is forecast to rise tenfold between 2022 and 2050 while demand for cobalt is predicted to triple, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). On March 20, Trump invoked the Defense Production Act to mobilise industry and expand domestic mineral output to reduce the country's reliance on China. This enables the federal government to finance new mining and requires federal agencies to speed up project approvals and prioritise mining on federal land. The Trump administration is keen to build a domestic supply chain but it takes years to build such upstream activities and a combination of Trump tariffs and anti-climate energy policies could severely hamper plans. Further U.S.-Chinese trade restrictions and tariffs 'could escalate faster than the U.S. is able to secure alternative supply chains, jeopardizing attempts to develop domestic clean energy manufacturing industries," Alice Wu, Senior Associate at the Federation of American Scientists, told Reuters Events. The lack of a stable policy environment will 'have a chilling effect on future investments in the domestic critical minerals industry," she said. China years ahead The U.S. has little cobalt and no graphite mining or processing capacity, while its share of global processing capacity is just 3% for nickel and 1% for lithium. The average critical minerals' mine takes more than 16 years from discovery to first production, according to Deutsche Bank. U.S. critical mineral suppliers have struggled to compete against low-cost facilities in China that benefit from state subsidies. China's lead is the result of developing comprehensive supply chains over 20 years, so 'they have reached a level of standardization and technology development' that the U.S. lacks, Moerenhout said. Join hundreds of senior executives across energy, industry and finance at Reuters Events Global Energy Transition 2025. Tariffs on Chinese imports can help higher cost domestic producers compete but raising them too quickly could make critical minerals too expensive for downstream industries, such as battery manufacturing, Wu noted. The Biden administration sought to strengthen domestic supply chains by providing tax credits and funding for mining and processing facilities via the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). If these support mechanisms remain in place, domestic lithium supplies could meet demand from domestic battery manufacturing plants by 2030, Argonne National Laboratory said last year, but there has been less progress with other critical minerals including cobalt, graphite and nickel. MAP: US clean power manufacturing facilities operational or planned Source: American Clean Power Association (ACP) report 'Snapshot of clean power in 2024' (March 2025). Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab Other efforts by the Biden administration included the negotiation of bilateral agreements with allied countries, such as Australia and Argentina, and the provision of direct funding from the Department of Defense and U.S. Export-Import Bank to critical minerals projects abroad, Wu noted. Growing U.S.-China tensions and Europe's reaction to Russia's invasion of Ukraine triggered new mining and processing projects, but 'those have yet to begin quantitatively shifting the global critical mineral supply picture', Seaver Wang, Director, Climate and Energy at The Breakthrough Institute, an environmental research center, told Reuters Events. Barriers rise The Trump administration is seeking to secure more critical mineral assets in DR Congo and has touted plans to expand its control of critical minerals in countries like Greenland and Ukraine. It also plans to streamline the regulatory process for new U.S. mines and processing sites, but its wider policies on energy threaten to hamper supply chain plans, Wang said. Trump has frozen funding from the inflation act and BIL pending a review while aggressive reductions in federal workforces, such as the Forest Service, 'have dramatically reduced the ability of key agencies involved in mining to carry out their duties,' Wang noted. Meanwhile, tariffs imposed on Chinese imports by the Trump administration in February 2025 led to Beijing imposing export controls on five critical minerals: bismuth, indium, molybdenum, tungsten and tellurium – the last of which is needed for cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin-film solar cells. It has also made it more difficult for engineers and equipment to leave the country. Surging demand from tech groups is accelerating clean power activity - download our exclusive report. An escalating tariff war with Canada is also a key risk for critical minerals supply. Canada exported $29.8 billion in critical minerals to the U.S. in 2023 but these supplies are threatened by the imposition of tariffs on a wide range of Canadian goods by the Trump administration. British Columbia Premier David Eby has threatened to ban critical mineral exports to the U.S. in retaliation. Picking fights with China, Canada and Mexico – the U.S.'s three biggest raw materials' suppliers – 'is not going to help supply chain resilience,' said Moerenhout. To boost domestic supply chains, the U.S. government could provide project-specific grants and loans, support R&D in new mining and processing technologies and help with geologic mapping, alongside permitting reforms, Wang said. But the U.S. cannot satisfy all its own needs and must build secure supply chains with overseas partners, he noted. The U.S. government needs to recognise that some extraction and processing will be 'much more competitive' in key trade partner countries like Canada, Chile and Australia, Moerenhout said. Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias. Reuters Events, a part of Reuters Professional, is owned by Thomson Reuters and operates independently of Reuters News. Neil Ford Neil provides news and analysis to a number of energy and African business publications. He also writes reports on Africa for the United Nations and the African Development Bank.
USA Today
20-02-2025
- Climate
- USA Today
'Terrified:' Video, photos show massive chasm created by sinkhole in English village
'Terrified:' Video, photos show massive chasm created by sinkhole in English village Dozens were evacuated and at least one garden was swallowed by a sinkhole in a southern English village on Monday, local reports say. The sinkhole, which formed in the village of Godstone in Surrey, about 18 miles south of London, grew approximately 20 metres, or about 65 feet by midday on Tuesday. Sinkholes are depressions in the ground that have no natural external surface drainage, the U.S Geological Survey reports. Any water, typically rainwater, that comes into contact with a sinkhole stays inside of it, draining into the subsurface. It has since been declared a "major incident" by local agencies, according to reporting by Reuters. Sinkholes: Truck driver trapped in sinkhole for over 24 hours as rescue plan is underway near Tokyo Watch: Aerial footage shows sinkhole in English village Aerial video shows huge sinkhole in English village A sinkhole opened and swallowed part of a road in Godstone, England. The county council declared a major incident, prompting evacuations. Sinkhole prompts evacuations Rez Mira and his family were among those evacuated from the surrounding area. The family spent the night with relatives, returning to find that their garden had sunken in, the BBC reported. "It's collapsed, the wall will come down, for sure," Mira told the BBC. "We're just terrified. We have to figure out where to live now. Next week school is going back, and we have to find somewhere close by." Josh Neame, another resident, faced a similar predicament. He was one week shy of living in his new home when he was evacuated and had no choice but to sleep in his vehicle. "They've just let me in now - over my shoulder is a bag of toiletries, pants and socks to get me through. I don't know what's going to come from here, no-one can give me any info," Neame told the BBC. "They said it could be up to a week before we're back in. I don't think they know what state the mains gas and electric's in, so it was risk of explosion, fire, collapse." The incident was the last thing anyone would have wanted to happen on a Monday, especially since he still hadn't finished unpacking his belongings. Crews managed to restore utilities, including water and electricity, that went out after a main water pipe burst and were working to make the area safe. Investigations, per the Surrey County Council, were ongoing. Evacuated residents were asked to stay away from the area until the work was complete, Reuters reported. Road closures and a small number of buildings in the surrounding area were evacuated as a precaution, the BBC reported. "The Local Resilience Forum will continue to meet throughout this incident to ensure everything is being done to resolve the situation as quickly and safely as possible," said Carl Bussey, SCC spokesperson, told Reuters. See photos: Sinkhole damage in pictures
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Magnitude 4.4 earthquake strikes near Avenal in Kings County, according to USGS
An earthquake shook near Avenal in Kings County on Thursday afternoon. A preliminary magnitude 4.4 tremblor struck at 4:17 p.m., according to the U.S Geological Survey. The USGS said the earthquake was about 6 miles northwest of Avenal. The ShakeAlert system was activated. So far, there are no reports of damage. Earlier in the day, back-to-back earthquakes struck Northern California.
