by The Straits of Malacca region is very important to the global economy. However, it may also be responsible for global chaos. But why? The region also hosts the planet’s active volcanoes and recent earthquakes.
The economic importance of the area is due to the flow of cargo that passes through it. Grain, crude oil and all kinds of goods pass through the Straits of Malacca, accounting for 40% of world trade. In total, ninety thousand ships pass through the area every year.
But the wealth isn’t just under the water, because the ocean floor is also responsible for being the pathway for the undersea internet cables that connect the entire world.
Therefore, researchers warn of the risk of a natural disaster, such as volcano in the area to explode or have an earthquake. This would have consequences for the entire world.
More about the Straits of Malacca
According to reports by the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Energy Information Administration in the United States and the Chatham House Center for External Studies in London, the region has been designated as a bottleneck.
But what does this mean? The word “narrow” already makes us think of a small environment with little space. With this in mind, the classification becomes more apparent.
Thus, a bottleneck is a physical bottleneck along two broad sea lanes. These places are naturally narrow transport channels with heavy traffic, this is due to their strategic locations.
The Strait of Malacca is the main shipping lane between the Indian and Pacific oceans. Its economic and strategic importance is due to the fact that it connects major Asian economies such as India, China, Japan and South Korea.
The volcanoes of the end of the world
The fluid and important navigation flow of the Strait Malaka threatened by the region’s delicate natural balance. There is a zone of seismic activity (earthquakes) and several volcanoes along the course of the Sunda Trench, on the coast of Sumatra and in the southern part of the island of Java.
If earthquakes in the region were to trigger volcanic activity, it would cause a ripple effect of economic and environmental consequences that would affect the entire world. To give you an idea of the danger, we will make a list of the volcanoes in the area, it is almost a minefield, see:
- Mount Semeru (Java);
- Mount Merapi (Java);
- Mount Krakatoa (Suda);
- Mount Tambora (Suda); is
- Mount Marapi (Sumatra).
The eruptions of these volcanoes located in the Straits of Malacca area could cause a tsunami. Thus, the tremors of the volcanic activity would shake the cities of the region. Air traffic in the straits will be suspended.
In addition, clouds of disturbed sediment moving at high speed would cause turbidity currents, which would break Internet cables. And the shipping route will be redirected, affecting all global economies.
