HispanicBusiness

A webcam is sending out images of Alaska's Cleveland volcano, which researchers believe may be about to explode in Alaska. Visibility is a bit iffy, though. It is winter in Alaska, after all.

The camera is sited on a hill at the western end of Umnak Island in the Aleutians, about 45 miles from the volcano.

The Christian Science Monitor reported yesterday that the Cleveland volcano may be about to blow its stack.

Wired has posted a picture of the smoking crater, noting that the dome that has built up periodically has the potential to plug the vents that allow pressure to be released gradually. If the vents stay plugged, the mountain is likely to explode.

Satellite images show a bulging lava dome forming at the summit of the Cleveland volcano, indicating that the mountain could be getting ready to explode, according to the Monitor.

The Aleutian Islands peak is 5,676 feet high and is sits 940 miles southwest of Anchorage. The Alaska Volcano Observatory has raised the aviation alert level to orange, the system's second-highest alert level.

The Cleveland volcano is of special concern to aviators because about 90 percent of air freight traveling from Europe and Asia crosses Alaska on the way to the U.S., according to the Monitor.

The images from the volcano cam can be viewed here.