Friday 16 April 2010

Eyjafjallajökull: The Icelandic Mountain that Awoke after 187 Years



Iceland had every right to be cross with the UK for Brown branding them terrorists and Murphy calling them sad and backward looking, but come on, this is going too far....

Having caused havoc with flights over the last few days, including those of the party leaders electioneering the length and breadth of the union, now the dust is starting to settle, literally.

People with chest conditions (Tris) are being warned to take precautions to avoid breathing in particles of volcanic ash.

Although the concentrations are likely to be low and not likely to cause serious harm, those with chest problems have been warned to carry medications. The dust could cause itchy, red eyes and have a strong acidic or sulphuric smell.

The volcanic eruption of Eyjafjallajökull has caused chaos across northern Europe as flights have been cancelled. The particles, if sucked into jet engines, could be disastrous. Disruption could last for days or even weeks, according to
forecasters.

The volcanic ash cloud is seriously disrupting arrangements for the funeral of President Kaczynski of Poland. President Obama, President Medvedev, and a dozen other heads of government were due to land at Krakow airport on Sunday. The Polish government has said that it is possible that the funeral will have to be postponed.

Holiday makers have had their plans ruined and business leaders are warning that the chaos will have a damaging effect on the already battered economy. Every cloud has a silver lining however, and several companies, including Virgin Trains and Stagecoach, laid on extra rail and coach services between England and Scotland as thousands of airline passengers sought alternative means of travel.

The current eruption of Eyjafjallajökull, the first since 1823, started in March this year but a massive increase in activity was noted on 14th April after a brief pause. The eruption has caused meltwater floods to rush down the nearby rivers, and the Icelandic authorities have had to evacuate around 800 people from farms in the area to the south east of Reykjavík who are in danger from the flash floods. Vulcanologists have warned that it could be months before it stabilises.

And we think we have problems from a little dust.



Pics: Eyjafjallajökull and the Icelandic flag, just for a change from ours.

8 comments:

  1. Every ash cloud has a silver linin' goes the auld saw. The pollution fae this volcano, by keepin' aw thae flyin' machines oan the ground, will mean a cleaner atmosphere ower Europe. Folk'll just have tae take their time, travellin' by train or boat, mibbe walkin' doon the street instead o' takin' the plane.

    An' we'll no hae tae worry aboot cabin crews strikin' an' upsettin' the weans gaun oan their holidays.

    Except the weans'll no be gaun on their holidays will they? Well they'll just hae tae go tae a caravan at Pettycur Bay for their holidays.

    But they'll no be able tae see the sand for aw that ash.

    Oh dearie me, whit a calamity.

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  2. Well, I'm not quite sure where we are after all that Sophia. It got a kinda confusing after the first paragraph....

    But it's late. I'm sure when I read it in the morning it will all be clear...ish

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  3. Off piste maybe but, the Scotsman is spoofing the Hootsman?

    http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/politics/Jim-Murphy-recounts--his.6234235.jp

    Life imitating art imitating life.

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  4. Ha ha, a gift from Iceland. And even better they have just found oil off the west coast of Ireland, so Jim Murphy’s other basket case is going to have baskets of oil. Up yours Jim!

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  5. Lol @ Sophia Pangloss!

    She? he? somewhere in the middle? is right. People traveling domestically or around Europe will have to find alternative ways of getting around. Our kids will be building volcanic ash castles instead of sand castles.

    And thanks to the volcano we don't have to put up with pampered cabin crew going on strike Lol.

    Seriously though, if this continues for months or even years then our flights will be subjected not only to weather changes but volcanic ash fall-out and it could be another added feature on the nightly weather programs.

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  6. LOL Allan....

    It could be something else that they get wrong!

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  7. Jim is like Gordon. Whatever he does it goes wrong:

    "Hello Your Holiness, would you like to come to Scotland?"

    Never mind, he may be saved from that embarrassment by the polution from the very country that he called backward looking and sad...

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  8. Bugger.... Ye Gads.....

    That's a tad on the sickening side.

    It seems that Jim is bragging about, and getting into the papers about, something that it would have been pretty inhuman NOT to do. The news story would have been if he HADN'T done anything.

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