12. Global Catastrophic Risk From Low Magnitude Volcanic Eruptions

This chapter advocates for a more systematic approach to thinking about extreme global risk and argues that most research on volcanic risk focuses on the catastrophic potential of eruptions, rather than the issues of our exposure and vulnerability to them. The authors explore seven geographical locations, or “pinch points”, where there is believed to be the highest levels of criticality for the infrastructure systems they contain, such as areas around Taiwan and the Mediterranean Sea. By considering these critical systems simultaneously with potential volcanic activity, this chapter reveals the risks of lower magnitude volcanic eruptions, allowing for new approaches to global risk management―a narrative which, this chapter argues, has been previously neglected by the volcanic risk community.