1. Professor David Cope Director Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) United Kingdom Parliament Westminster, England

2. The Devastation of the Loveliest of Lands Presentation to STOA Workshop on Avoiding Ash Disruptions, Brussels, 23 rd June 2010

5. Is Iceland the only problem?

13. Laacher See, Eifel, Germany ~13,000 BP

14. Chaîne des Puys, Massif Central, France ~4000 BP

15. Parícutin, Mexico, 1943-52

16. Sakurajima volcano and Kagoshima City, Japan

17. Is “fire and ice” a lethal combination?

20. Future Eruptions?

22. Lakagigar Crater Chain, Iceland

23. “Supervolcanoes” Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland 2010 0.25km 3 Mt St Helens, Washington USA 1980 1.3km 3 Mt Pinatubo, Philippines 1991 10km 3 Tambora, Indonesia 1815160 km 3 Toba, Indonesia 70,000 BP800 km 3

24. What are the warnings?

28. Volcano hazard assessment always fails to answer the one question raised most frequently... namely, when and where the volcano will erupt next. In the absence of volcanic or seismic unrest, scientists can offer only statistical information — probabilities — about future volcanism. US Geological Survey

29. Thanks to: Carina Fearnley, University College London David Pyle and Tamsin Mather, University of Oxford And to you for listening