Why Iceland's lava is so hard to control - Arianna Soldati (Level 1)

Volcanos are very dangerous. In December 2023, a volcano erupted near Grindavik, a town in Iceland. Hot rock, called lava, came out of the ground. Lava is very hot and heavy. It destroys everything in its path. But lava moves slowly, so people have time to run away. Can we stop lava? People have tried many ways. In 1935, airplanes dropped bombs on lava in Hawaii. This did not work. In 1973, people in Iceland used ocean water to cool the lava. This saved their town, but it needs a lot of water. Today, the best way is to build big walls. People make these walls out of dirt and rocks. The walls change the direction of the lava. After the 2023 volcano, Grindavik built tall dirt walls. These walls saved the town from the next eruptions. Scientists are still learning how to protect people from volcanos.