True, lava (hot lava) is hot enough to burn our trash.
When Hawaii's Kilauea volcano erupted in 2018, the streaming lava was above 1,100 degrees Celsius. This is hotter than the surface of Venus, and it has the ability to melt rocks. The lava is also as hot as trash incineration equipment, which may reach temperatures of 1,000-1,200 degrees Celsius. However, the temperature of all lava varies. The basal lava created by the Hawaii eruption is a kind of lava. This lava is significantly hotter and thinner than lava that generally flows from other volcanoes, such as the dasit lava that spews from Mount St. Helens in Washington, United States (USA).
There are other reasons why tossing rubbish into a volcano is not a smart idea, in addition to the temperature.First, while lava at 1,000 degrees Celsius may melt many items in our waste, such as food scraps, paper, plastic, and some types of glass and metal, the temperature is insufficient to melt many other common materials, such as steel, nickel, and iron.
Second, few volcanoes on the planet contain lava lakes or a lava bowl-shaped crater that may serve as a waste dump.
Only eight active lava lakes have been discovered among the hundreds of volcanoes on the planet. Mount Kilauea, Mount Erebus in Antarctica, and Mount Nyiragongo in the Congo are among them. Craters holding rocks and cool lava, such as Mount St. Helens, or water-filled, such as Crater Lake in Oregon, USA, are found on most active volcanoes.
Third, throwing trash into the eight active lava lakes is difficult and risky.
A cool lava crust covers the lava lake, but there is a layer beneath it that is still in the form of hot melt. If boulders or other debris fall to the surface of a lava lake, the crust will crumble, causing the lava beneath it to be disturbed and an explosion to occur.
In 2015, this happened in Kilauea. Boulders from the crater's edge dropped into the lava lake, causing a massive explosion that blasted boulders and lava into the air. Anyone throwing trash into the lava lake must dash in as rapidly as possible while avoiding lava and burning debris.
Consider this scenario: what would happen to waste if it was possible to safely dump it into a lava lake?
Plastics, garbage, and metals emit a huge amount of harmful fumes when they burn. Thousands of kilos of poisonous gases, such as sulphur, chlorine, and carbon dioxide, have been released by volcanoes.
Acid fog, often known as "vog," is caused by sulphur gas (volcanic fog or volcanic fog). This fog has the potential to harm vegetation and create respiratory ailments in the surrounding area. When toxic volcanic gases are mixed with other gases produced by garbage incineration, gases that are far more damaging to humans and plants surrounding the volcano are produced.
Finally, many indigenous peoples see volcanoes as holy sites.
For example, the Halema'uma'u Crater on Mount Kilauea is revered by Hawaiians as the home of Pele, the Goddess of Fire, and the region surrounding the crater is considered holy. Garbage on a volcano might be considered an insult to these cultures.
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