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Indonesia’s Semeru Volcano Erupts, People Warned to Stay Away

Mount Semeru volcano spews hot ash as seen from Pronojiwo district in Lumajang, East Java province, Indonesia, December 10, 2021, in this photo taken by Antara Foto. Antara Foto/Ari Bowo Sucipto/ via Reuters
Mount Semeru volcano spews hot ash as seen from Pronojiwo district in Lumajang, East Java province, Indonesia, December 10, 2021, in this photo taken by Antara Foto. Antara Foto/Ari Bowo Sucipto/ via Reuters
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Indonesia’s Semeru Volcano Erupts, People Warned to Stay Away

Mount Semeru volcano spews hot ash as seen from Pronojiwo district in Lumajang, East Java province, Indonesia, December 10, 2021, in this photo taken by Antara Foto. Antara Foto/Ari Bowo Sucipto/ via Reuters
Mount Semeru volcano spews hot ash as seen from Pronojiwo district in Lumajang, East Java province, Indonesia, December 10, 2021, in this photo taken by Antara Foto. Antara Foto/Ari Bowo Sucipto/ via Reuters

Indonesia's Semeru volcano on Java island erupted early on Sunday spewing a two km (1.24 miles) high ash column, prompting authorities to warn people to stay away from the eruption range.

Earlier this month, the eruption of Semeru, Java's tallest mountain, ejected ash clouds and pyroclastic flows that killed at least 46 people and left several missing, while thousands were displaced.

On Sunday, the early morning eruption resulted in dense white and grey ash clouds, according to Indonesia's Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG).

The agency warned nearby residents not to conduct any activities within a five km (three miles) radius of the eruption center and to keep a 500 meter (1,500 feet) distance from riversides due to risks of lava flow.

PVMBG also told people to not conduct any activities within 13 km (eight miles) southeast of the eruption center.

With 142 volcanoes, Indonesia has the largest population globally living in close range to a volcano, including 8.6 million within 10km (six miles).

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Scientists: Melting Sea Ice in Antarctica Causes Ocean Storms

Scientists know the damaging consequences of the loss of Antarctic sea ice. Juan BARRETO / AFP
Scientists know the damaging consequences of the loss of Antarctic sea ice. Juan BARRETO / AFP
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Scientists: Melting Sea Ice in Antarctica Causes Ocean Storms

Scientists know the damaging consequences of the loss of Antarctic sea ice. Juan BARRETO / AFP
Scientists know the damaging consequences of the loss of Antarctic sea ice. Juan BARRETO / AFP

The record-breaking retreat of Antarctic sea ice in 2023 has led to more frequent storms over newly exposed parts of the Southern Ocean, according to a study published Wednesday.
Scientists know that the loss of Antarctic sea ice can diminish penguin numbers, cause ice shelves to melt in warmer waters, and impede the Southern Ocean from absorbing carbon dioxide, AFP reported.
But this new research, published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature, explores another consequence: increased heat loss from the ocean to the atmosphere, and an associated rise in storms.
Since 2016 there has been a large-scale reduction in Antarctic sea ice, but nothing like 2023 when a record amount failed to reform over the winter.
For this study, Simon Josey of the UK's National Oceanography Center and colleagues focused on three regions that experienced unusually high levels of sea-ice retreat that year.
Using satellite imagery, ocean and atmospheric data, and wind and temperature measurements, they found some newly ice-free areas experienced double the heat loss compared to a stabler period before 2015.
This was accompanied by "increases in atmospheric-storm frequency" over previously ice-covered regions, the authors found.
"In the sea-ice-decline regions, the June–July storm frequency has increased by up to 7days per month in 2023 relative to 1990–2015."
The loss of heat caused by reduced sea ice could have implications for how the ocean circulates and the wider climate system, the study added.
Oceans are a crucial climate regulator and carbon sink, storing more than 90 percent of the excess heat trapped near Earth's surface by greenhouse gas emissions.
In particular, sea-ice retreat could mean changes in how a deeper layer of cold, dense Antarctic bottom water absorbs and stores heat.
The authors said further in-depth analysis of possible climate impacts were needed, including if sea-ice retreat could have even further-reaching consequences.
"Repeated low ice-cover conditions in subsequent winters will strengthen these impacts and are also likely to lead to profound changes further afield, including the tropics and the Northern Hemisphere," it said.