10 ACTIVE VOLCANOES EXPLODING IN FIERY BEAUTY RIGHT NOW

Did you know that there are about 20 active volcanoes exploding in fiery glory around the world right now?

Image: by Walter Lim. The Day the Volcano Erupted - A Halloween Horror Story. Central Java, Indonesia.

The exact number of active volcanoes is unknown because some are erupting under the sea. It also depends on how we define the term “active volcano,” as it ranges from a single coned behemoth to a "volcanic field" comprised of hundreds of individual eruption centers emerging from a single magma chamber.

Image: by G.E. Ulrich, of USGS.

Since planet Earth formed, there have been millions of volcanoes, exploding to change it’s shape in a continental process. In the past 10,000 years, there were about 1500 known active volcanoes on land. To date, there have been about 600 erupting volcanoes in recorded history.

Image: by Kevin Sebold. 

About 50-70 volcanoes are active each year, around the world, with about 20 erupting at any one time. Guatemala is a current hotspot, with 3 active volcanoes.

To see which volcanoes are erupting now, look here. And see more images of recent eruptions below.

Image: by josep salvia i boté. Stromboli. Aeolian Islands, Italy.

1. STROMBOLI -- ITALY

Stromboli (Aeolian Islands, Italy).

Image: by Marcel Holyoak. Sunset Over Volcano, Colima NP. Colima, Mexico.