Claim: Rockets can prevent volcanic eruptions
Rating: FALSE
Facts: During the confirmation hearings of Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Chief Renato Solidum, one representative asked him “out of curiosity” if bombing a volcano or at least using rocket materials can prevent it from exploding.
Politicians are obsessed with using rockets to solve problems as one of our fact-checks can attest.
Solidum correctly answered about why volcanoes erupt, that there is no assurance that rockets could stop eruptions, and why using rockets can actually be hazardous.
BBC’s Science Focus said that bombing an already exploding volcano can only disrupt the lava flow or make the explosion occur a little bit earlier.
Wired Magazine said lowering the pressure and temperature would mean destroying the top and bringing in a lot of water into the crater.
Would you want to destroy the perfect cone of Mayon just to prevent it from erupting once? Island volcanoes like Taal can be flooded but that is not a real guarantee that it will not erupt underwater.
Wired also said that triggering a volcanic eruption would not mean that it will erupt instantly or it will take months or even years before the trigger will have an effect.
The underwater Tonga eruption early this year has an energy more than any nuclear bomb and countering this with a nuclear blast does not negate this energy. It might even make it worse.
Why we fact-checked this: Politicians try to be a know-all by asking scientists about something they watched or saw on the Internet or they just want to rattle them.
A solid background on science can go a long way in knowing what is true and what is science fiction.
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