Volcanoes don't just make airports messy. They actually helped create the world we live in -- including us!
After staying quiet for at least 12,000 years, a volcano in Ethiopia called **Hayli Gubbi** suddenly erupted on Sunday. The next day, flights in **Delhi**, over 4,000 km away, got delayed. Sounds wild, right? But volcanoes are super powerful. Hayli Gubbi sent ash 14 km into the sky, and that's still small compared to other eruptions. In 2022, a volcano near Tonga released the same energy as a huge **8.4 earthquake**. And in 1883, **Krakatoa** exploded so loudly that people heard it **5,000 km away**!
Volcanic ash is a nightmare for airplanes. If too much ash gets into an engine, it can stop working. In 1982, a British Airways plane flew into volcanic ash and **all four engines stopped**. The pilots managed to restart three of them after gliding for 15 minutes -- which is why airlines are super careful after eruptions. In 2010, a volcano in Iceland with a very hard name (Eyjafjallajökull) erupted and the ash caused flight chaos that cost airlines tons of money every day.
But volcanoes are more than travel troublemakers. They've shaped **Earth itself**. Long ago, giant volcanic eruptions helped create the continents. One huge eruption in India, called the **Deccan Traps**, lasted around **600,000 years** and released so much carbon dioxide that it warmed the planet, killed the dinosaurs, and made space for new animals -- eventually leading to humans.
Volcanoes have changed human history too. In 79 CE, when **Mount Vesuvius** erupted, it buried the Roman city of Pompeii under ash. In 1783, a volcano named **Laki** in Iceland erupted and messed up Europe's weather. It caused crop failures and hunger in France, which helped push people toward the **French Revolution**. And in 1815, the eruption of **Tambora** in Indonesia cooled the planet, brought endless rain to Europe, and even played a role in defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo.
Volcanoes have always shaped our world -- and they still are. Our hot, fiery relationship with them continues!