New Zealand Warns Tourists: Avoid Mount Doom


Real-Life ‘Mount Doom’ Predicted To Erupt Again In Near Future; New Zealand Warns Tourists To Stay Away

New Zealand has been a popular tourist destination for fans of the Lord of the Rings films since “Fellowship of the Ring” debuted in 2001. But there’s one iconic location trekkers should be weary of, and it’s the same one that Frodo and Sam were so weary of in the films: Mount Doom, properly known as Mount Ruapehu.

New Zealand is warning climbers away from the volcano, which was immortalized in popular culture as the haunt of the dark lord Sauron.

Pictured: Mount Doom, as seen in the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, with the Eye of Sauron nearby.
Pictured: Mount Doom, as seen in the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, with the Eye of Sauron nearby.

Mount Ruapehu last erupted in 2007, but GNS Science, an according to earthquake and volcano monitoring service, it may soon erupt again. “Recent visits to the volcano have confirmed an increase in the output of volcanic gas,” GNS Science said.

“There are more signs of life at the volcano,” said volcanologist Brad Scott.

The temperature has also risen drastically at Crater Lake, the large crater divide that forms between Ruapehu’s major eruptions. How drastic was that rise in temperature? It went from 25 degrees Celsius to 46 degrees Celsius since the middle of April—a clear warning sign that volcanic activity is increasing.

Pictured: Mount Ruapehu, an active stratovolcano at the southern end of the Taupo Volcanic Zone in New Zealand. It is 23 kilometres northeast of Ohakune and 40 kilometres southwest of the southern shore of Lake Taupo, within Tongariro National Park. The North Island's major skifields and only glaciers are on its slopes. (WP)
Pictured: Mount Ruapehu, an active stratovolcano at the southern end of the Taupo Volcanic Zone in New Zealand. It is 23 kilometres northeast of Ohakune and 40 kilometres southwest of the southern shore of Lake Taupo, within Tongariro National Park. The North Island’s major skifields and only glaciers are on its slopes. (WP)

Scientists have raised the volcanic alert level at Mount Ruapehu to “heightened unrest.”


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Timothy Bertrand
Writer and journalist living in the Houston, Texas area. Follow me for breaking news, editorials, pictures of cats doing human activities, and other such content from around the web.

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