If a volcano erupted within your backyard, your very first instinct is likely to be to flee as a long way away from using it as you can. Following a eruption of Hawaii’s Kilauea on May 3rd, however, some Hawaiians experienced a different idea. Alot of are really staying devoid of the lava as well as toxic fumes, others have devised a silver lining.
Twitter user Jay Furr asked the USGS Volcanoes Twitter account whether it’s “safe to roast marshmallows over volcanic vents? Assuming you needed a protracted enough stick, that is certainly? Or would the resulting marshmallows be poisonous?”
While Ham Porter from The Sandlot may be impressed because of this ingenuity, the USGS Volcanoes Twitter account was less enthusiastic. They informed the operator that roasting marshmallows over volcano vents was unsafe, understanding that “should the vent is emitting many SO2 or H2S, they could taste BAD. And in case you set sulfuric acid (in vog, including) to sugar, you have a pretty spectacular reaction.” So, that settles it. Since the snack might be covered in sulfur dioxide, and potentially sulfuric acid with the volcanic smog, roasting marshmallows over volcano vents forces you to pretty sick.
There’s no denying, though, that some Hawaiians don’t seem to be as skeptical because of the eruption even as we might for the mainland. Many visualize it because work of aging, which is to be respected and left untouched. Pele is a Hawaiian goddess of fireside, lava, and volcanoes, and in accordance with Hawaiian mythology, Kilauea is alleged to become her home. Some Hawaiians never look at eruption as the catastrophe, speculate a momentous event, and are also leaving offerings to your goddess around locations the lava has long been flowing.
Though a spiritual event for a lot of, even the goddess Pele probably agrees that roasting marshmallows over her lava isn’t quite the very best idea.