Volcanic eruption is a bad thing. People should stay away from those volcanoes that may erupt. However, it is very strange that the closer we are to these volcanoes, the denser the population. Italy's famous Vesuvius is an active volcano, which erupts regularly and takes many lives. However, people still live there. In Mexico, densely populated places are often places with volcanoes. Why is this?
Although volcanic eruption brings harm, volcanic ash is an excellent natural fertilizer and contains many nutrients needed by crops. Cuba and Indonesia are rich in sugar cane, and Central America is rich in fruit, all of which are related to the contribution of volcanoes. Volcanic eruption is dangerous, but in people's minds, I don't know when it happened. Therefore, after the volcanic eruption, people still go there to engage in production activities.
The greatest wealth of a volcano is its heat source. In areas where volcanic activity occurred not long ago or still exists now, a lot of hot water and hot gas are often hidden underground, which is a very valuable resource. There are dozens of thermal power stations in the world, such as El Salvador in Central America, which use 10 intermittent volcanic thermal energy to build power stations, and the power generation is equivalent to 20 times that of oil power stations in this country. The director of the engineering department of the University of Hawaii once pointed out that a geothermal test well with a depth of 2000 meters was drilled near the Kailai crater in Hawaii. If well water steam is used to generate electricity, it can generate 500 million kWh.
The thermal energy brought by volcanic eruption can not only generate electricity, but also be used for heating. Iceland is located near the Arctic Circle, with a very low annual average temperature. However, due to its location at the junction of the Eurasian plate and the American plate, there are frequent crustal movements, numerous volcanoes and abundant geothermal resources. Iceland's geothermal heating system is the largest and most perfect in the world, and all households in China15 have used volcanic steam to keep warm. The capital Reykjavik uses geothermal heating, which not only saves energy but also reduces environmental pollution. What's even more surprising is that this Nordic country near the Arctic Circle can produce tropical fruit-bananas by relying on greenhouses heated by hot springs! Iceland is not frozen, "four seasons are like spring", which is the credit of volcanoes.
Volcanoes have even increased the territory of some countries. 1973, near Nishishima, Japan, a piece of land was exposed to the water due to submarine volcanic eruption. The Japanese immediately officially named it the new island of Xizhi, which suddenly increased the territory of 0.24 square kilometers, which is also something to be happy about.
Volcanoes also bring a large number of metallic and nonmetallic mineral deposits, such as diamonds and sulfur mines.