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From the Author

Let us pause for a while and take a peek at the fascinating wonders of nature, the majesty and the glory of God's creation and the spectacle of human engineering. Unfortunately, I cannot go to these places in as much as I want to so, I’m just taking this virtual expedition. I hope you can join me in this online adventure.

-Arnel S. Oroceo, the Author


Sunday, May 10, 2009

Mount Pinatubo Crater Lake

Definitely, a journey to the outer regions of the earth would be a very exciting adventure but not for everyone. Admittedly, only a few could manage to spend US$30M for the rocket trip. Perhaps, there are other unexplored places on the earth’s surface that are worthy of visit.

I may be biased but I must say that there are beautiful places in the Philippines that are worthy of visit. Apart from the famous tourist destinations like Mayon Volcano in Legaspi Albay, Chocolate Hills in Bohol, Pagsanjan Falls in Laguna, Taal Volcano in Batangas, I think the crater lake in Mount Pinatubo is a good tourist attraction.


Mount Pinatubo eruption in 1991 from USGS

Mount Pinatubo is unfamiliar even to Filipinos until its eruption in June of 1991, which has placed the volcano in the annals of world history as one of the greatest volcanic eruption on record. Readers’ Digest 1001 Science Questions Answered book says that the volcanic eruption ejected 17 million tons of ash and aerosols- suspended particles- into the atmosphere. The ash has measurably obscured the sun for several days afterwards and the sulfurous aerosols have lingered even longer in the atmosphere. About 5% of the sunlight has bounced back into outer space and has resulted in a 0.5°C average reduction in global temperatures that year. Climatologists have also observed an increase in the reduction of ozone in the stratosphere, and the holes in the ozone layer above the South Pole have reached record size. The ash cloud in the stratosphere that resulted from that massive eruption has lasted for three years.


The eruption has caused a formation of a lake on the crater of the volcano, a symbol of a natural disaster that has killed innocent lives. Seventeen years after that historic eruption, the crater lake has become a picture of calm and serenity. In fact, GMA-7 has used it as a setting for its fantasy tele-novella, “Majica” a couple of years ago.


The crater lake after seventeen years


The crater lake on Mount Pinatubo surely is worthy of visit. We can see how the earth seems to reform itself after a nature’s destructive deformation, a mystery of God’s creation that will bring all who witness it to awe.


Info/Photo:

1001 Science Questions Answered
http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Imgs/Jpg/Pinatubo/Pinatubo91_eruption_plume_06-12-91_med.jpg

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