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Ecuador Declares State of Emergency Over Volcano
An anonymous reader writes: The President of Ecuador declared a state of emergency following growing fears over the increasing activity in the Cotopaxi volcano. Rafael Correa ordered the evacuation of a few hundred people who live near the volcano as a precaution. The first signs of eruption began last Friday when hot ash shot out of the volcano, covering areas up to 30 miles away. The volcano's last major eruptive period occurred in the late 19th century
The C in CBBC stands for children's. Surely there has to be a better, more informative source that CBBC's newsround "the home of news and fun facts for kids". Even the actual BBC website is slightly better .
Actually they hurl chunks...
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
It isn't stupidity. The land near volcanos is quite fertile so an agrarian society would flourish.
People love living near volcanoes because of how rich the volcanic soil is. And flood deltas have nice flat ground, easily cleared for building.
Looked at Seattle lately? It's like 60 miles or so from Mt. Rainier. A Mount St. Helen's style eruption would devastate the city. It wouldn't do Tacoma much good either.
It's easy to ignore a threat that may not be realized for a hundred years or more. It's kind of like gambling. The odds are you'll be fine. But.....you might get wiped out if you're unlucky.
It doesn't help that Mt. Rainier is also rotten, full of hollow caves and eaten away by sulfuric acid. The most dangerous part is that it is quite unstable and will create a cataclysmic flash flood of mud, rock and ice, known as a lahar. About 150,000 people live on top of old lahar deposits.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
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Don't live near any coast, for fear of Tsunamis.
Don't life in the Midwest, for fear of tornadoes.
Don't live near any fault lines, for fear of earthquakes.
Don't live in hot climates, for fear of droughts and wildfires.
Don't live in norther climates, for fear of blizzards.
Don't live near volcanoes, for fear of eruptions.
Don't live in the jungles, for fear of diseases.
Don't live on a hillside, for fear of mudslides.
Don't live on a river plain, for fear of flooding.
Don't live in Africa, as a lion might eat you.
Don't life in Canada or Alaska, as a bear might eat you.
Don't live in Florida, as an alligator might eat you.
Don't live in Australia, since everything is venomous.
etc, etc...
There are very few places on earth where nature doesn't occasionally try to kill you.
Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
Actually, Correa is one of the president with the highest popular support in the region, if not in the world. Above 60% of approval rating, which is very high after being in power since 7 years in a country that is use to political instability. Mostly because he has a very strong economical record (greatly reduced poverty and unemployment, high growth, massive improvements in infrastructure, healthcare and education, ...).
There are some protests going on since a few months, but they are from a tiny heterogeneous minority, the bulk of the protests being from right-wing movements upset at the new tax reforms he is pushing that will increase the load on the ~2% richest (a new inheritance tax that will mostly hit the 0.1% richest and somewhat the 2% richest, and leave the 98% other untouched), combined with a few extreme left movement who are unhappy of Correa being more of a pragmatist and not reforming fast enough and some extreme ecological movements who oppose mining and oil extraction (but how can a country like Ecuador develop itself without using its natural resources ?)
Actually, his support in polls is down to 45%. His "strong economic record" was built on the back of high oil prices and hence is steadily falling apart in this new low price regime.
The estate tax is only one source of discontent. The natives really could care less about it, their biggest gripe is the continued destruction of their lands for oil extraction and power generation. The unions are mad at Correa's attempts to strip them of their power. Senior citizens groups are mad about cuts to pensions. And lots of people in general are mad at his attempts to repeal term limits and his actions against free speech, an independent press and an independent judiciary that have made Ecuador's global rankings in these regards plummet during his term.
"99 dead duelists of Dios on the wall. 99 dead duelists of Dios! Take one's ring, pass it around..."