I’m not a betting man, but if I was I might have a flutter on this betting pool started from an online bwetting  called Paddypower.com: Bet on the next volcano to explode around the world, after Mayon in the Phillippines. Here are the odds at the moment:

3/1     Mt Unzen (Japan)
9/1     Mauna Loa (USA)
10/1   Ulawun (Papua New Guinea)
10/1   Merapi (Indonesia)
10/1   Santorini (Greece)
11/1   Colima (Mexico)
11/1   Rainier (USA)
11/1   Taal (Philippines)
11/1   Teide (Spain, Canary Islands)
12/1   Mt Nyiragongo (DR Congo)
12/1   Popocatepetl (Mexico)
14/1   Sakurajima (Japan)
16/1   Stromboli (Italy)
22/1   Avachinsky (Russia)
22/1   Galeras (Colombia)
28/1   Mt Vesuvius (Italy)
28/1   Chaiten (Chile)
28/1   Etna (Italy)
33/1   Santa Maria/Santiaguito (Guatemala)
33/1   Yellowstone (USA)

I’m surprised that Vesuvius is so much lower than Rainier. (Speaking of betting, here’s an interestingly weird story that demonstrates the stupidity that betting brings: Some folks are smoking vulture’s brains to get visions of winning lotto numbers!)

As a side note, there was some discussion among readers following my Telegrahp column yesterday about geothermal power, in which one person claimed Mt. Washington was an extinct volcano. I said I didn’t think so, and in poking around realized that there are a couple of fine old (like 200 million years) craters visible from the air - including in Pawtuckaway hills, visible beautifully on Google Maps satellite view (here)

Tags: volcano; eruption