The images from the eruption of Kilauea are breathtaking. Lava is gushing from cracks in the earth, spraying — at times — more than 200 feet in the air. Eruptions from the Halema'uma'u crater continue to punch plumes of gas and ash into the Hawaiian sky. For those living in the southeast corner of the Big Island, the eruption is devastating. Thousands have been evacuated, as rivers of lava slowly burn their way down the flanks of the long-active volcano, consuming homes and blocking roads. But the eruption also presents an incredible opportunity for those who want to better understand the earth systems at work. Scientists are calling this a generational event — the rare time people get to glimpse at the world and processes beneath our feet. Data gathered from this eruption will be studied for decades. Careers will be made. And what we learn from it will inform geology and land-use planning around the globe — information that will hopefully "keep people's lives from being impacted, like
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