One of my favorite things about teaching at Outdoor Science school was the chance to teach impressionable young minds all of my favorite fun science facts (like the one about platypus lacking mammary glands, so instead mothers basically sweat milk for their babies to lick up)

Living and traveling around Indonesia has got me thinking about lots of new things, and along the way, I've learned some great new fun facts.

Here's what I just learned about Volcanoes:

-The 1883 eruption of Krakatau in Indonesia is thought to have released 200 megatons of energy, the equivalent of 15,000 nuclear bombs. Even though the island was uninhabited, huge tsnumanis and showers of burning ash killed 36,000 people. It generated the loudest sound ever recorded in history

-The Lake Toba supervolcanic eruption nearly 75,000 years ago in Indonesia plunged earth into a volcanic winter (known as the Millennium Ice Age) and was responsible for the formation of sulfuric acid in the atmosphere. It may have so hugely depleted the human population that it caused a genetic bottleneck affecting the genetic inheritance of all humans alive today. 

-There are about 1,500 active volcanoes in the world, the majority along the Pacific Ring of Fire (where I happen to live!). 20-50 volcanoes erupt each year.

And then (this is not actually a fact, but a general impression): 

-Standing on the edge of an active volcano is a surprisingly eerie experience. It also reeks of sulfur.