volcanic eruptions often lead to vital roads and other access routes being blocked, cutting areas off. when Mt. St. Helens erupted the vast amounts of ash that were produced by the volcano blocked main roads and access routes to towns and settlements for weeks on end. the layer of ash was 15cm thick in places. this stopped emergency responses from reaching people and made recovering from this volcanic disaster even harder.

Although volcanic eruptions have been shown to increase levels of tourism, they can decrease the levels of tourism too. For example, a landscape can be so badly damaged that tourists will be put off from visiting, or tourists can be put off by the fear of another eruption occurring. Volcanic ash can scar natural landscapes. Areas of  natural beauty around the base of Mt. St. Helens were badly damaged and tourist numbers dropped dramatically due to this drop in tourism can make it even harder for people to recover from this event, as many people living near volcanoes rely on tourism for their income, and with this being severely reduced, their income would severely decrease. 

Agriculture can be damaged by volcanic eruptions as well as benefitting from them. The ash that covers the ground can harden making that land no longer suitable for agriculture of any kind. Furthermore, any existing crops that were on that land would be buried and useless, loosing farmers valuable crops and income.

Other industries can suffer too, after the Mt. St. Helens eruption, forestry industries were damaged due to pyroclastic flow destroying 360km2 of forest. The salmon industry also generated a lot of income for the local economy, however this was damaged when rivers and lakes were clogged and polluted by the ash from the volcano, and 7000 salmon were killed by the ash. When disasters like this happen, this damage to industry takes a long time to recover fully from.

So to the original question. are volcanoes positive or negative natural events? well I think they have to be both. Volcanoes can benefit an area through generating an income, whether that be by tourism or agriculture, and can also provide cheap energy for the surrounding population. so they aren’t all bad. however, I can’t ignore the fact that which ever way I look at it, volcanoes cause damage both to people’s lives and property in the short-term and in the future too by damaging industries and reducing the economic benefits of living near a volcano and being at risk of a volcanic eruption.

Despite this, I believe the benefits of volcanoes outweigh those of the disavantages

2) It will bring more tourism, and more tourism jobs available; this will bring more money in the local economy through: airport tickets, tourism guides/companies, hotels, restaurants and local showbiz companies eg. circus, dance shows etc.

3) Jobs will be created surrounding farming resources around the volcano and sell them for a living.

4) Though, the ash that comes and shadows over the crops and villages and destroys them, when mudflows hit the crops and farms (and not ash); eventually it becomes a better growth soil for the plants and farmland.
5)Magma rising from deep inside the earth contains a range of minerals. As the rock cools, minerals are precipitated out and, due to processes like the movement of superheated water and gasses through the rock, different minerals are precipitated at different locations. This means that minerals such as tin, silver, gold, copper and even diamonds can be found in volcanic rocks. Most of the metallic minerals mined around the world, particularly copper, gold, silver, lead and zinc are associated with rocks found deep below extinct volcanoes. This makes the areas ideal for both large scale commercial mining and smaller scale local activities by individuals and small groups of locals. Active and dormant volcanoes have the same mineralisation, so like extinct volcanoes, they are rich sources of minerals. Hot gasses escaping through vents also bring minerals to the surface, notably sulphur, which collects around the vents as it condenses and solidifies. Locals collect the sulphur and sell it.

On the flipside,
6) Transport and communication will be blocked; this will stop people getting out- or police and ambulance getting in, as the lava flows will cover and block the roads: communication with air patrol and outside help will be lost; as on the inside the roads are blocked for land transport.
7) Crops ruined: when a cloud of ash overshadows the town/city, the cloud will collapse and
8) Sea - during a volcanic eruption earthquakes happen, and tsunamis may be created. Also, if it is a volcanic island, the island may be destroyed, and there is no escape.
9) Lava flow - these are very slow moving, but destructive as they cannot be stopped and they set fire to everything in their path.
10) Pyroclastic flow - these are impossible to outrun, travelling at about 300 km/h, and are extremely destructive
11) Mudflow/lahar - these are mud rivers that have the consistency of cement, and destroy everything in their path, including building.
Thus there could be advantages and disadvantages of living near a volcano. For different groups of people, the advantages could outweigh the disadvantages or the disadvantages could advantages. Despite all this, I prefer to live near volcanoes as it is very profitable and not all volcanoes may be threatening due to the viscoursity of magma where anyone could safely walk away from it.

Hot gasses escaping through vents also bring minerals to the surface, notably sulphur, which collects around the vents as it condenses and solidifies. Locals collect the sulphur and sell it. 

 

Geothermal Energy

Geothermal energy means heat energy from the earth. It's unusual to use the heat directly, by building your house on top of a steam vent for example, because it's unpredictable, dangerous and messy.

The heat from underground steam is used to drive turbines and produce electricity, or to heat water supplies that are then used to provide household heating and hot water. Where steam doesn't naturally occur it is possible to drill several deep holes into very hot rocks, pump cool water down one hole and extract steam from another hole close by.

The steam isn't used directly because it contains too many dissolved minerals that could precipitate out and clog pipes, corrode metal components and possibly poison the water supply.

Countries such as Iceland make extensive use of geothermal power, with approximately two thirds of Iceland's electricity coming from steam powered turbines. New Zealand and to a lesser extent, Japan, also make effective use of geothermal energy.

 

Fertile Soil

Volcanic rocks are rich in minerals, but when the rocks are fresh the minerals are not available to plants. The rocks need thousands of years to become weathered and broken down before they form rich soils. When they do become soils though, they form some of the richest ones on the planet. Places such as the African Rift Valley, Mt Elgon in Uganda, and the slopes of Vesuvius in Italy all have productive soils thanks to the breaking down of volcanic rocks and ash. The Naples area, which includes Mount Vesuvius, has such rich soils thanks to two large eruptions 35,000 and 12000 years ago. Both eruptions produced very thick deposits of ash and broken rocks which have weathered to rich soils. Today, the area is intensively cultivated and produces grapes,vegetables, orange and lemon trees, herbs, flowers and has become a major tomato growing region.

 

 

Tourism

Volcanoes attract millions of visitors every year, for different reasons. As an example of the wilder side of nature, there are few things that can beat seeing an erupting volcano blowing red hot ash and rock thousands of feet into the air. Even the less active ones that are just puffing out steam and smoke are impressive sights and attract tourists from around the world. 

Around the volcano may be warm bathing lakes, hot springs, bubbling mud pools and steam vents. Geysers are always popular tourist attractions, such as Old Faithful in the Yellowstone National Park, USA. Old Faithful is such a popular tourist feature that it even has its own 24 hour

Iceland markets itself as a land of fire and ice, attracting tourists with a mix of volcanoes and glaciers, often both in the same place. The wild, raw and barren volcanic landscapes also attract tourists who want to see what the early planet may have looked like. 

Tourism creates jobs in shops, restaurants,hotels and tourist centres / national parks. Locals economies can profit from volcanism throughout the year, whereas skiing, for example, has only a limited winter season. 

In Uganda, a country trying hard to increase its tourist industry, the volcanic region around Mt Elgon is being heavily promoted for it's landscape,huge waterfalls, wildlife, climbing and hiking and its remote 'get away from it all' location

Advantages:

1) Volcanoes provide resources for energy extraction, also known as geothermal resources.  This involves heat from the earth's crust is being converted to energy. The big advantages to this type of energy are that it is very clean and the resources are nearly inexhaustible.

2) It will bring more tourism, and more tourism jobs available; this will bring more money in the local economy through: airport tickets, tourism guides/companies, hotels, restaurants and local showbiz companies eg. circus, dance shows etc.

3) More people will come to see the beautiful landscape made by the pyroclastic (molten   rocks) and mudflows, which harden overtime. They make great landscape for tourist to sightsee.

4) Though, the ash that comes and shadows over the crops and villages and destroys them, when mudflows hit the crops and farms (and not ash); eventually it becomes a better growth soil for the plants and farmland.

Disadvantages:

1) Transport and communication will be blocked; this will stop people getting out- or police and ambulance getting in, as the lava flows will cover and block the roads: communication with air patrol and outside help will be lost; as on the inside the roads are blocked for land transport. 

2) Crops ruined: when a cloud of ash overshadows the town/city, the cloud will collapse and

3) Sea - during a volcanic eruption earthquakes happen, and tsunamis may be created. Also, if it is a volcanic island, the island may be destroyed, and there is no escape.


4) Lava flow - these are very slow moving, but destructive as they cannot be stopped and they set fire to everything in their path.

5) Pyroclastic flow - these are impossible to outrun, travelling at about 300 km/h, and are extremely destructive


6) Mudflow/lahar - these are mud rivers that have the consistency of cement, and destroy everything in their path, including building