Volcano Café has compiled a convenient list of the nine “New Decade Volcano Program” candidates announced thus far and invited speculation about the top spot on the list. A few weeks ago I wrote about Lake Kivu in the East African Rift, which is ominously close to Nyiragongo. I guessed then that a volcanic complex involving the lake would be first or second on the list, and I still think so. The most dangerous volcano on the planet, to the best of my (superficial) knowledge, is likely the Nyiragongo/Lake Kivu combination.
Here’s a rather overdramatic but interesting NOVA program on Nyiragongo, with mention of Lake Kivu:
Update: It looks like Nyiragongo and associates will not be #1. According to one of the listmakers, “Of those 16 originally chosen [in the original Decade Volcano Program], only one – Taal – meets our criteria.”
So much I could comment on in this post, I will simply say: Thank you for the morning insights and laughs. (And … don’t let that cat into the house.)
Lake Kivu was actually discussed by us because of its enormous content of CO2, but to release it would require a large eruption from the volcanic field inferred to lie at the bottom of the lake, an eruption far larger than we believed was reasonable to assume was possible. And congratulations to Ken for getting it right!