ShmoopTube

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[Dino and Coop singing]

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Ring of fire.

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Sounds scary, right? [Johnny Cash with fire in the background]

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Well, no need to panic, because the ring of fire we're talking about isn't some sort of

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WWE cage match, or even super extreme hula hooping… [People wrestling]

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Nope, we're talking about the very first, original Ring of Fire: a chain of volcanoes

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around the Pacific Ocean.

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So…yeah, it's just a tad older than hula hoops are… [The ring of fire location shown on a map]

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And believe it or not, many of those volcanoes are still active to this day… [Volcano erupting]

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…Probably because of a healthy diet and regular exercise. [Box of Wheaties on a rock]

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The Ring of Fire contains 452 total volcanoes – which is over 75% of the total volcanoes

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in the world, and includes volcanoes in...

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Bolivia, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Costa Rica, [The locations shown on a map]

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Russia, Japan, The Philippines, Indonesia, New Zealand, Antarctica, Canada, and

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the U.S.A.

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Phew.

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That was exhausting.

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And if you've ever visited the great state of Washington, you may have seen one of these

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beauties in person!

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But don't worry.

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Mount Saint Helens last erupted in…2008…? [Kids walking to Mount St. Helens]

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…huh.

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Actually, that's…not super reassuring. [They run away]

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And before that, it erupted on May 18th, 1980.

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Here's what it looked like before…

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Here's what it looked like during the eruption.

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Pretty freaky, huh?

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And finally, here's what it looked like afterwards.

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Even worse than your living room after the time your little sister accidentally drank [Sisters kicks the TV over and jumps out the window]

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coffee, huh?

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What a day.

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As you can probably tell, this eruption was no joke.

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It caused over a billion dollars in damage, and tragically lost the lives of 57 people. [Newspaper article about the eruption]

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Hawaii is another state within the Ring of Fire, and is currently home to several active

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volcanoes, including Kilauea, Mauna Loa , and Loihi

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Seamount.

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Naturally, active volcanoes can cause problems wherever they are, and Hawaii is no different. [People at the beach]

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After all, it's hard to enjoy your tropical paradise when lava is flowing from these volcanoes,

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destroying roads and buildings. [Videos of volcano damage]

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But on the islands of Hawaii, this lava also serves a positive purpose: when it flows into

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the surrounding water, it cools down and turns into solid rock, effectively creating new

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land and expanding the islands.

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And hey, Hawaii is pretty beautiful!

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Who could complain about having more of a good thing?

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What's more, the volcanoes in Hawaii provide geothermal energy. [Coop pointing at a blackboard]

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Geothermal energy is energy provided by heat from the earth – and it's both clean and

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sustainable.

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For all the destruction volcanoes can do, they sure can be useful.

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So if there's one lesson to be learned from volcanoes, it's that while something might [People watching an eruption]

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appear totally dangerous and destructive on the surface, it actually might have some surprising [Teddy bear flies out of an erupting volcano]

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upsides, too.

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Try to remember that the next time your little sister forgets to get decaf and is destroying

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the house.

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