The world’s hottest volcanoes

New analysis of satellite observations of 95 of Earth’s most active volcanoes was used to determine which volcanoes on Earth have been the hottest since the turn of the 21st century. The answer depends on how you define hottest, but, in terms of total energy radiated, the prize goes to Kīlauea on Hawai‘i Island. Kīlauea has been in eruption for more than 30 years and spilled lava continuously throughout the study period of 2000–14; flows now threaten the town of Pahoa. Iceland’s ongoing Holuhraun eruption has radiated the most heat for an event. The long-term comparative study was led by Hawai‘i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology (HIGP) assistant researcher Robert Wright and was accepted in Geophysical Research Letters.

Read more about it in NASA Earth Observatory, EarthSky, and Iceland Review.