It certainly has been a photogenic year for volcanic eruptions, from Japan to Iceland to Hawaii to Indonesia. At present there are at least 38 volcanoes in some form of eruption.
And now Cape Verde.
It is clear now that the ongoing eruption at Fogo in the Cape Verde Islands is not sparing the towns in the Cha de Caldieras area. There had been some indications that the eruption was slowing and that the town of Portello and Bangaeira could be saved, but as of December 8, it appears that much of the settlement is being overrun by lava flows and the lava continues to flow at close to 300 meters per day.
The volcano, Pico do Fogo, is one of the most prominent in the Cape Verde islands. It rises some 2900 meters from the surface of the sea. The volcano features a striking stratovolcanic peak, and a large caldera rim. The caldera was created long ago,when a sector of the island collasped into the sea.
Cape Verde sits astride a hotspot, like Hawaii and like Iceland.
Because the entire island of Fogo essentially is a volcano, land is at a premium. Settlements and farming regions exist within the caldera, at the foot of the main Fogo peak.
These settlements are now being overrun by lava. Thousands are now homeless; they have no homes to return to at all.
The eruption began on November 23 and was diaried here.
Cape Verde is not a wealthy nation, and Fogo even less so. Many of the 37,000 residents of the island depend on remittances from overseas--there is a substantial Cape Verdean diaspora in the United States, for example. As such, they may not be able to handle the humanitarian crisis caused by Fogo's eruption, which could last for many months. Its 1995 eruption, for example, lasted 56 days, and from the year 1500 (or before--1500 is the year the Portugese settled the islands) through the year 1760 it was in almost continuous eruption. There is the potential for a great disaster here.
There is a charity. Please consider these people in your giving, if you can, this season.