Tick-tock KAH-BOOOOM! (by Joe)

This is not a picture of me at the seaside (top).

It was taken on the shore of Lake Taupo in North Island, New Zealand. The lake is 606 square kilometres and was formed by a massive volcanic eruption which produced 800 cubic kilometres of ash (100 times more than Krakatoa). This covered the whole of North Island up to 100 metres deep in poisonous toxic volcanic ash, wiping out all vegetation.

The thing is, this eruption happened not millions of years ago, not even hundreds of thousands of years ago, but 26,000 years ago - a little while in human terms, but not that long.

More recently - in fact less than 2000 years ago - another eruption took place in this area. Although smaller, it was still about 3 to 4 times the size of the Krakatoa eruption and large enough to generate reports of darkened skies in Rome and China.

You see, the majority of North Island is above a rather lively (250 km by 100 km) area of volcanic activity, known as the Taupo Volcanic Zone. It makes for stunning scenery, and like most tourists, we've enjoyed walks across smoking volcanoes (above right) and gone to see the steaming geysers and bubbling hot mud-pools at attractions with names such as 'Thermal Wonderland' and 'Craters of the Moon' (below left).

But touring around you can't help but be reminded of 'the cataclysmic' ...

The frightening truth is that pretty much all human activity here can only be temporary: it's like living on the San Andreas fault or by Yellowstone National Park in the States. Probably not in your lifetime, but at some point, sooner or later: KAH-BOOOM!!!

Joe