SINGAPORE - Three decades after Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines billowed enough ash to blanket Singapore and cut out enough sunlight worldwide to cool the Earth for years, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) scientists are looking into how the Republic can better prepare for future eruptions.

The eruption on June 15, 1991 - the world's largest in the past 100 years - sent ash to Singapore on the evening of June 17. The ash hung in the air here for three weeks before clearing, with some people reporting allergic reactions.