Globalisation supports the clustering of critical infrastructure systems, sometimes in proximity to lower-magnitude (VEI 3-6) volcanic centres. In this emerging risk landscape, moderate volcanic eruptions might have cascading, catastrophic effects. Risk assessments ought to be considered in this light.Within the volcanic risk literature, the typical focus of attention for global-scale catastrophes has been on large-scale eruptions with a volcanic explosivity index (VEI) of 7-8 1,2 , which remain relatively rare 3 . The relationship between volcanic eruptions of this scale and global catastrophic risks (GCRs)events that might inflict damage to human welfare on a global-scale 4 provided rationality for this tendency. We define this correlation as a 'VEI-GCR symmetry', whereby as the magnitude of an eruption increases so too does the probability of a GCR event. The eruption of Tambora in 1815 (VEI 7) is an example of the mechanism that governs the VEI-GCR symmetry, in which a large release of sulfur into the stratosphere brought about periodic global cooling, widespread frosts in the northern hemisphere, and crop failures across Europe 5,6 . This VEI-GCR symmetry has historically defined society's relationship with volcanoes. Indeed, we have often failed to consider lower-magnitude VEI eruptions as constituting GCRs.Here, we argue that this symmetry has become imbalanced towards 'VEI-GCR asymmetry', driven by clustering of our global critical systems and infrastructures in proximity to active volcanic regions. Critical systems and infrastructures, such as shipping passages, submarine cables, and aerial transportation routes, are essential to sustain our societies and to ensure their continued development 7,8 . We observe that many of these critical infrastructures and networks converge in regions where they could be exposed to moderate-scale volcanic eruptions (VEI 3-6). These regions of intersection, or pinch points, present localities where we have prioritised efficiency over resilience, and manufactured a new GCR landscape, presenting a new scenario for global risk propagation. A manufactured global catastrophic risk landscapeWe saw an example of the VEI-GCR asymmetry mechanism in play during the 2010 VEI 4 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland, whereby a moderate-scale volcanic eruption occurred in proximity to a pinch point of critical systems and networks, resulting in global-scale impacts. During the explosive phase of the event, plumes of volcanic ash were transported on northwesterly winds towards continental Europe 9 , resulting in the closure of European airspace, at a loss of US$5 billion to the global economy 10 . This eruption remains the most costly volcanic eruption ever recorded, even when compared to the VEI 6 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo, which was the second-largest eruption (in terms of tephra ejected) in the last century. The Mount Pinatubo eruption, by contrast, resulted in economic impacts of around US$374 million
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