Current Event Science Blog

Mount Redoubt, a volcano in Alaska, is expected to erupt extremely soon. In fact, scientists predict that this could happen within days or weeks. Scientists expect this because there have been a lot of little earthquakes and the magma is nearing the surface. This is a risk because Mount Redoubt is only about one hundred miles southwest of Anchorage. When the volcano erupts it could send huge clouds of ash all over Alaska. Judging from past eruptions this ash could shoot up to forty thousand feet in the air. Ash is mostly made of silica which is similar to tiny pieces of glass. The ash would take about three hours to reach Anchorage. Ash could be a concern because ash can be dangerous to breathe in and can damage cars if it gets into the engines. A dangerous effect of ash is that it can get ruin or stall the engines on planes. That is why no planes will be allowed to fly in the area if the volcano erupts.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/02/02/alaska.volcano/index.html