Revision summary
La Soufrière 2021 ash-evacuated St Vincent and dusted neighbours. Nyiragongo lava struck Goma with deaths and urban damage. Cumbre Vieja on La Palma buried farms through a long 2021 eruption. Iceland’s Fagradalsfjall was lava and gas, not a trans-Atlantic ash crisis. Indonesian arcs added farm and flight ash; Hunga Tonga belongs to 2022.
Model answer
Copper italics in this answer — like this — are the key facts. Each one is unpacked in the Facts & figures rail.
Introduction
The year 2021 was volcanically busy on several plates. Eruptions in the Caribbean, Africa, the Atlantic, Iceland, and Indonesia changed air, land, and local livelihoods more than they changed the global climate.
Body
Major 2021 eruptions
- La Soufrière, St Vincent (April 2021): explosive ash forced evacuations across the island and dusted Barbados and the eastern Caribbean.
- Nyiragongo, Democratic Republic of Congo (May 2021): fast lava into Goma killed people, cut water, and left a CO2 and instability risk on the rift.
- Cumbre Vieja, La Palma, Canary Islands (September–December 2021): long lava flows buried banana farms and houses; ash and SO2 hit local air and the island economy.
- Fagradalsfjall, Iceland: a tourist lava eruption with local gas, not a jet-blocking ash cloud like Eyjafjallajökull 2010.
- Indonesia remained active (Sinabung, Merapi, Semeru late 2021): ash on farms and aviation warnings on a dense island arc.
Regional environmental impact
- Ash and sulphur irritate lungs, coat crops, and acidify rain locally. La Palma and St Vincent showed agricultural loss more than a global temperature drop.
- Lava permanently remaps land and groundwater, as on La Palma’s west coast.
- Aviation and shipping take short detours; 2021 did not repeat a Europe-wide ash shutdown.
- Humanitarian displacement in Goma showed that a volcano is also an urban disaster on the East African Rift.
Note on 2022
- Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai was January 2022, after the 2021 calendar the question names; do not fold it into 2021.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD V[2021 volcanoes] --> SV[La Soufriere ash] V --> NY[Nyiragongo Goma] V --> LP[La Palma lava] V --> ID[Indonesia ash] SV --> ENV[Crops air displacement]
Conclusion
2021’s eruptions were regional: Caribbean ash, Goma lava, La Palma’s buried farms, Icelandic lava tourism, and Indonesian ash. The climate signal was local air and land, not a new global winter.
Quick related
Students also ask
-
The process of desertification does not have climate boundaries. Justify with examples.
Next question on this syllabus topic (2020 · Q5). View answer →
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Did 2021 volcanoes cool the planet?
Not in a measurable Pinatubo way. Impacts were regional air, lava, and farms.
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Why list Indonesia every year?
It sits on a dense subduction arc with many restless cones, so some eruption is almost always on the 2021 list.
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