Name:__________________________________Prd:______A/B
Ms. Shadid—Global Studies
Date :__________________
HW_ Living near Volcanoes
Step ONE:
Before reading Poll—
People take risks living next to volcanoes—a single eruption can turn villages and farms into wastelands. What do you think?
Living near volcanoes is worth the risk
Do you agree or disagree with this statement? EXPLAIN:
Directions: While you read please annotate the main idea of each paragraph. Ask yourself,
“ what is the paragraph is trying to tell me ?”
AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa R.
A woman walks on her ash-covered land after the August eruption of the Tungurahua volcano in Palictahua, Ecuador.
Millions of Ecuadorians live in the shadows of dangerous volcanoes.
BILBAO, Ecuador (Achieve3000, October 3, 2006). When the Meneses family of Bilbao,
Ecuador, borrowed $5,000 for corn seed, they had a stretch of lush landscape for their crops.
Then, in mid-August, the Tungurahua volcano erupted, killing the corn and transforming the land. The family returned after the eruption to replant, finding that it was almost impossible to break up the hardened ash that lay on the ground. Still, the Meneses would not give up.
"We took a risk planting here," said Antonio Meneses. "Now we will test our luck. Let us hope this harvest will not fail."
The people of Ecuador are accustomed to risk and dependent on sheer luck. The nation is home to 55 volcanoes—17 of them active. More than one quarter of Ecuador's 12 million people live within 15 miles of an active volcano. They are in the shadows of mountains that could erupt at any time, changing their villages and farms into wastelands.
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Name:__________________________________Prd:______A/B
Ms. Shadid—Global Studies
Date :__________________
HW_ Living near Volcanoes
Tungurahua, which means "throat of fire" in the Quichua Indian language, had the most recent eruption. The Meneses were not the only victims of Tungurahua's ash—the volcano destroyed
10 villages, left 5,000 people homeless, and wiped out tens of thousands of acres of crops.
The Pululahua volcano poses an even greater risk to people because there are farms situated inside of its crater. The active volcano has not had a major eruption in 2,300 years, but every so often, it reminds villagers that they are living precariously. Thirty-three years ago,
Pululahua sent up an ash cloud that blanketed the villages and panicked residents. One resident says that every so often, the volcano trembles and roars "like a jet plane."
Residents and crops are not the only factors at risk in Ecuador. The nation's main resource—its oil—is also vulnerable to its volcanoes. Ecuador's two pipelines run parallel to each other, about one mile (1.6 kilometers) apart, right through volcano territory. Since the pipes are so close together, if a volcano erupts, it is probable that both pipes—not just one—will be affected.
"All the eggs are in one basket," said geophysicist Hugo Yepes. "[Officials] didn't separate [the pipes] by a few hundred [miles] in such a way that the impact to one is independent of the other."
As Ecuador becomes more urban, it is also becoming more vulnerable to volcanoes. Recent eruptions have stopped air traffic by dumping ash on runways and affecting visibility. Ash can stop tourists, who ironically go to Ecuador to see volcanoes up close. In addition, volcanoes threaten major highways, telecommunications networks, and industrial zones.
Geology professor Theofilos Toulkeridis says that Ecuadorian authorities underestimate the danger of the volcanoes.
"They keep giving permission for construction of schools and projects in risky zones," said
Toulkeridis. "As far as I am concerned, it's totally criminal."
Some government officials agree, but they say there is little they can do. Retired army colonel
Anibal Salazar is the deputy director of civil defense. Salazar believes that Ecuador needs to take more actions to protect people, but he says that the civil defense agency is understaffed and underfinanced.
Despite the dangers of living near volcanoes, life goes on in Ecuador's villages. After the
Reventador volcano erupted in 2002, villagers had to pick up the pieces and continue on.
"We had our little house, we had a few cattle and some crops, but all of it was taken by the volcano [in 2002]," said Eliza Ortega, adding, "We began from zero, with nothing."
Ortega now runs a restaurant that caters to tourists who continue to visit the area.
"We do not fear the volcano. What can we do?" Ortega said.
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Name:__________________________________Prd:______A/B
Ms. Shadid—Global Studies
Date :__________________
HW_ Living near Volcanoes
Part Two: Dig Deeper
Ecuador isn't all volcanoes—far from it.
If you look at a topographical map of mainland Ecuador, it looks like it's made up of three "stripes" running from north to south. Each "stripe" is a different continental region. All of the regions contain cities (most
Ecuadorians are city dwellers), as well as a number of natural features.
In the west, there is a region called the Costa, made up of lowlands along the coast of the Pacific Ocean, as well as the low foothills of the Andes Mountains. The
Costa was once covered partially by tropical forest, but most of the land has been cleared for farmland. The land in the region is mostly fertile, and the area has a climate that works well for growing bananas, cacao, and coffee beans.
In the east, there is the Oriente, which is made up of the Andean piedmont (foothills), as well as lowlands. This region is the natural home of rainforests through which rivers, fed by runoff from the snowcaps that top the Andes Mountains, flow into the mighty Amazon River. Some of the rainforests have been cut down to make way for the drilling of oil. The Oriente region is also popular with tourists. To the north, towns have been built, with hotels and restaurants.
However, there is still a good deal of forest to the south, where ecotourism is popular.
Ecotourists visit natural attractions and learn about their importance to the environment.
The center "stripe" of Ecuador looks brown on a relief map because it is dominated by two chains of the Andes Mountains, with a valley between them. This region contains at least 30 peaks that are or were volcanoes, and six of them, including the one you read about in "Living
With Volcanoes," are still active, making up a chain called the Avenue of the Volcanoes.
Living near a volcano can be dangerous, but these ash-spewing peaks have their benefits.
Crops grow inside the mouths of volcanoes, and for good reason—volcanic ash makes for fertile soil. Farming is one way to earn a living near a volcano. Supporting volcano-loving tourists—by running hotels and restaurants nearby—is another.
Ecuador's three mainland regions (a fourth, the Galapagos Islands, is located 500 miles off the coast of the mainland) are very different from one another. Each one has dramatic features that have an enormous effect on the lives of the people.
Dictionary precariously (adverb) without certainty; unsteadily topographical (adjective) having to do with mapping or charting the features (like hills and valleys) of a place urban (adjective) having to do with a city vulnerable (adjective) easily harmed
Now that you have read the article, indicate whether you agree or disagree with this statement:
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START STRONG. STAY HUNGRY. BE ONE.

Name:__________________________________Prd:______A/B
Ms. Shadid—Global Studies
Date :__________________
HW_ Living near Volcanoes
“Living near volcanoes is worth the risk”
Explain using four pieces of evidence from the article and UNDERLINE the evidence in your response. Write as much as you need to fulfill requirements.
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