Environmental Dangers

Few plants are able to grow on Cotopaxi because the soil is soaked in water, combined with cold temperatures, and there are poor nutrients in the soil. The only plants that are able to survive are moss and lichens because they are deep under the ground. One of the main dangers of a Cotopaxi eruption is that the glacier on top of Cotopaxi would melt and ice would flow down, affecting about 100,000 people. Also, pyroclastic flows hurts the atmosphere by releasing toxic gases and heats the atmosphere.