Famous Volcano Startles New Zealand With 20 Degree Temperature Spike

The New Zealand volcano featured as Mount Doom in the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, Mount Ruapehu, is coming to life. Officials are now telling hikers to keep at least two kilometers away, and its temperature is surging.

According to CNN, GNS Science, a New Zealand state-owned company focusing on geology and nuclear science, raised the alert status to level two. Level two is a “moderate to heightened volcanic unrest;” level three is a small eruption.

In a press release, Paul Carr, an operations manager at Tongariro National Park, said, “We recommend climbers, trampers and walkers (not to) enter the zone… Guiding companies should also heed the advice and not take people into the zone.”

The temperature on the volcano as has gone up 25 degrees C (45 degrees F) in the last two and a half weeks.

Still, experts claim there’s no reason to panic. Volcanologist Brad Scott says there have been eight temperature spikes on the mountain since 2010, but none of them have led to a major eruption.

The New Zealand Herald reports that he recently visited the famous volcano and measured the gas outputs.

“Volcanic gas measurements indicate an increase in the amount of both carbon dioxide (CO2) and sulphur dioxide (SO2) output… Seismic activity at Mt Ruapehu is usually dominated by volcanic tremor. Since the volcanic earthquakes in late April the seismicity has been dominated by volcanic tremor at varying levels. The level of tremor has increased but is not exceptional in terms of the last few years.”

In the end, the warnings might just end up ruining some vacations for unlucky Lord of the Rings fans. Tongariro National Park is reportedly a nice area, but in the movies, it plays Mordor — the orc-infested home territory of the evil Lord Sauron from the Lord of the Rings movies.

Mount Ruapehu is Mount Doom, where the Frodo tosses the One Ring. It’s not quite that scary in reality, but it has had a few major events.

The volcano’s last severe eruption came in 1995-1996, when it sent ash 40,000 feet into the air and disrupted agriculture, commercial air flight, and tourism in the area. Since then, it’s remained active with the occasional small eruption.

Brad Scott has had to fight some rumors in New Zealand about what’s causing the activity, explaining, “It’s got nothing to do with weather. And White Island, they’re [volcanoes] all independent of each other.”

According to the Weather Channel, White Island is New Zealand’s most active cone volcano, and its biggest, although 70 percent of it is submerged under water. It recently had a small, explosive eruption that left the surrounding area covered in green ash. GNS explained that the strange color was simply an unusual combination of minerals.

The Mount Ruapehu activity is not connected according to Scott, and he says it is just lava getting trapped in the volcano.

He also said that the nearby communities shouldn’t worry about the potential for a destructive lahar flow to reach them.

“One of the biggest eruptions, in 1995, only a few blots got past the 3km or 4km mark and that was really rare. Being away from the volcano is very safe and even the standard places you can go. Different story if you go and climb the thing and you’re camping at the crater lake or something.”

New Zealand’s Mount Ruapehu volcano startles people regularly, both in real life and on film.

[Image via Shutterstock]