Ambae in Vanuatu Releases Biggest Sulfur Pulse on Earth in 3 Years

April 9 Aura/OMI map showing the sulfur dioxide plume from Ambae (Aoba) in Vanuatu stretching across the South Pacific. NASA (via Simon Carn). Last fall, Ambae (aka Aoba) made headlines after almost 13,000 people had to be evacuated due to the increasingly violent eruptions from the volcano in Vanuatu. The activity subsided after a few weeks and people were able to return to their homes. Since November of last year, the volcano settled down, producing minor steam-and-ash plumes from the summit caldera lake, Lake Voui. However, starting in mid-March, the volcano has become more restless again. Ash from eruptions (see below) have fallen on residential and agricultural regions of the small island, contaminating water and potentially becoming a real hazard for the people living on the island again. The Vanuatu Meteorology & Geo-Hazards Department (VMGD) notes that these new eruptions mark a change in character for the volcano to more ash-rich, explosive eruptions versus the types that occurred in the fall of 2017. This makes ash a larger hazard for air travel or water supplies, but also opens the possibilities of volcanic mudflows (lahars) related to ash deposits and heavy rains. There have calls for renewed evacuations of the island's residents due to this new bout of activity (along with some major flooding from a recent cyclone).