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Photograph by Carsten Peter
Two scientists watch lava spray from the Mount Etna volcano in Sicily, Italy. Being this close is dangerous. "You have to stand still, watch where the lava bombs are falling, and get out of the way," says photographer Carsten Peter. -
Photograph by Carsten Peter
This part of the Mount Etna volcano is called the Piano del Lago cone. It was created by eruptions in less than one week in 2001. -
Photograph by Klaus Nigge
There are more than 125 volcanoes in Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula. Twenty-two of them are active. Here, the Karymsky volcano sends clouds of ash and steam into the sky. -
Photograph by Ralph Lee Hopkins
Volcanoes in Hawaii are called shield volcanoes because of the way their lava flows out slowly in all directions, like this blob on Mount Kilauea. When the lava cools and hardens, it makes the mountains look rounded, like an ancient battle shield. -
Photograph by Frans Lanting
Mount Kilauea in Hawaii is one of the few volcanoes on Earth that has flowing rivers of lava, like this blazing hot stream from the Pu'u 'O'o crater. Millions of people go to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park each year to get a look at these amazing lava displays. -
Photograph by Carsten Peter
A view from a helicopter shows several snow-covered volcanoes on the Kamchatka Peninsula. This wild area in eastern Russia is home to geysers, grizzly bears, huge rainbow trout and salmon, and more than a hundred volcanoes. -
Photograph by Sarah Leen
Mexico's Popocatepetl volcano, nicknamed "El Popo," was quiet for almost 70 years. Then, in 1993, it began to rumble, and it's been sending smoke and glowing rocks into the air ever since. -
Photograph by Paul Chesley
Tourists can take a boat or helicopter to New Zealand's White Island and walk right into this volcano's crater. There are no plants, the air smells like rotten eggs, and bursts of steam from the ground sound like jet engines. What a vacation! -
Photograph by John Stanmeyer
People who live near Indonesia's Mount Bromo, the smoking volcano on the left, often throw valuables—money, food, even live chickens—into its crater. They hope these offerings will keep the spirits who live there happy and keep the volcano from erupting. -
Photograph by John Stanmeyer
Mount Merapi on the island of Java in Indonesia is nearly 10,000 feet (3,000 meters) tall and is one of the world's most dangerous volcanoes. Merapi means "fire mountain" in Indonesian. -
Photograph by Anne McCormack
Tolimán is one of three dormant volcanoes which surround Lake Atitlán in Guatemala. The lake is the deepest lake in Central America and formed 84,000 years old when a volcano exploded and created the caldera. There are more than 30 volcanoes in Guatemala. Only three are active.
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