This image, acquired on 15 April 2010 by Envisat’s Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS), shows the vast cloud of volcanic ash sweeping across the UK from the eruption in Iceland, more than 1000 km away. The ash, which can be seen as the large grey streak in the image, is drifting from west to east at a height of about 11 km above the surface Earth.
An enlarged view and story follows.
It seems the Volcano has accomplished what the nutballs of “Plane Stupid” could not – shut down UK airports, including Heathrow.
Flights have been disrupted across northern Europe by volcanic ash drifting south and east from Iceland.
Airspace was closed or flights cancelled in countries including the UK, the Republic of Ireland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and France.
The ash, which can damage aeroplane engines, was produced by a volcanic eruption under a glacier in Iceland.
Flooding was reported as the glacier melted, and up to 800 people were evacuated from the area on Wednesday.
By Thursday afternoon, the UK had shut its airspace and other countries, from Belgium to Scandinavia, were in the process of following suit.
‘Wait and see’
UK airspace was shut down to all but emergency flights from midday (1100 GMT) on Thursday to 0700 BST (0600 GMT) on Friday, at the earliest. It was also closed in Ireland.
“Volcanic ash represents a significant safety threat to aircraft,” said the UK’s Air Traffic Control Service (Nats).
Airspace closed:
Oslo airport, which is Norway’s largest, was closed on Thursday morning, meaning Norwegian airspace was completely closed.
Belgium, Sweden and Denmark announced they would be shutting their entire airspace, northern Finland was closed and the Netherlands was being closed progressively.
French aviation officials said on Thursday afternoon that the main airports in Paris and other airports in the north of the country were to be closed.
more here
Is there a way a tax can be levied on this pollution? Man made global warming carries the blame if this increases CO2 or aerosols.
Pele joins forces with Plane Stupid. Plane Stupid has been celebrating getting the new Heathrow runway shut down. They should be thrilled to have all the runways shut down now!
http://www.planestupid.com/
Last time this volcano erupted 200 years ago, the eruption lasted more than a year. Will that mess up Plane Stupid’s plans to shut down the Glasgow airport in October?
“Call out for public shut down of Glasgow airport on October 10”
http://www.planestupid.com/blogs/2010/04/1/we-will-shut-down-glasgow-airport
I though we asked the Icelanders to send us cash 🙂
“This is mind blowing ignorance on the part of Al Gore. Gore in an 11/12/09 interview on NBC’s tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, speaking on geothermal energy, champion of slide show science, can’t even get the temperature of earth’s mantle right, claiming “several million degrees” at “2 kilometers or so down”. Oh, and the “crust of the earth is hot” too.”
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/11/16/gore-has-no-clue-a-few-million-degrees-here-and-there-and-pretty-soon-were-talking-about-real-temperature/
So much heat so close to the surface, this is predicted by the grand Pubbah of warmists.
Because we sell electric heaters in the U.S.A. and Canada, we are watching the Iceland volcano event very carefully. We believe the likelihood of another year long global cooling event like during the Mt. Pinatubo eruption has increased because of what is and might happen in Iceland. And it could contribute to a Dalton or even Maunder type decades long event. (In addition to ocean currents, other volcanic eruptions, solar minimum, etc.) Many more brutal winters coming? Siberia just had one of its coldest winters ever. In the U.S.A. 2009-2010 winter was top ten coldest going back to the 1800’s and the snowiest winter since 1978. North American snow cover broke it’s all time record. We experienced a large demand for freeze protection products from the southern states and are preparing for the worst.
Earthquakes, tsunamis, plates´ movements, volcanic eruptions (like VEI=6 Huaynaputina volcano during the Maunder Minimum) are characteristic of Solar Minimums. Enjoy the ride!
Interesting times indeed!, Icelanders still expecting for the Katta volcano eruption to follow current volcanic eruptions.
Will this put humongous amounts of SO2 in the atmosphere? Along with the particulates, it looks like more global cooling could be in our future.
[snip]
“Denialists” is not acceptable here. Take it elsewhere. ~dbstealey, mod.
REPLY: It’s OK, Peter knows no other lifestyle beyond sniping and complaining. It’s his nature.
But since he has nothing to back up his complaint, I’ll back up mine, and say again they are “nutballs” see links below
“planestupid” kills polar bears via CGI to make a point
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/11/21/planestupid-kills-polar-bears-via-cgi-to-make-a-point/
Plane Stupid leader glues himself to the Prime Minister
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/01/01/an-opportunity-for-europe-in-2009/
Yep, nutballs. Peter, I’m super pleased that you are annoyed. Enjoy the troll bin. -A
Quite dark here in Denmark right now
http://www2.dmu.dk/atmosphericenvironment/Vulkansky/dreameu_ani.gif
Hmm a Pinatubo scale volcanic event with ash and aerosols spread through lower stratosphere and upper troposphere combined with already weakening tail end of El-nino (swinging over into La Nina?) and a new long period low amplitude solar cycle 24 could make winters interesting over the next few years and even the coming NH summer……
I was also interested in seeing temps over the next 5 years without significant volcanic cooling because if Svensmark and GCR advocates are right we would possibly see some cooling with weak solar geomagnetic solar cycle but now we will see volcanic noise on the signal to confuse the situation. Will we have to wait some years longer to find out now if temps were going to plateau and/or cool without volcanic influences?
If temps rise in this scenario to a new peak > 1998 peak I would be surprised and have to lean towards GHGs being a significant concern.
Maybe arctic will exceed 6mil km minimum summer extent this year under these circumstances?
It’s all very fascinating!
O to be in England, now that April’s here !
The difference is because ‘denier’ comes from ‘holocaust denier’ which is quite insulting because it implies not only ignorance but racism and sympathy for the people who carried out the holocaust.
Interesting and annoying for other countries, but is there really anything Iceland can do about this? It’s not like you can control volcanoes.
Exactly what the Warmists had been hoping for. The obvious cooling of the last 2 years (otherwise known as the hottest years in the history of the world by Warmists and their enablers) can now be attributed to volcanic ash. Whew. Just in time to save them from reality.
I live in the North of England, and I am keeping a close eye on my canary !
Given that this eruption will depress ‘raw’ temperatures, can we anticipate a significant upward correction be applied to the quality controlled temperature records (sorry, products) created by CRU, GISS etc because of this event?
Also, it is worth noting that the causative link between global warming and volcanic eruptions has not gone unnoticed:
http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/6660
‘Global Warming Could Trigger Volcanic Eruptions
Climate Change and the Apocalyptic Chain Reaction’
Of course, if only we had sacrificed more, we would have been spared. (Al Gore was right, but we could not come up with the protection money in time).
I wanna stake my claim here to previous postings: Abnormal solar Geomagnetic status is affecting tectonic plate movement on earth. Lucky a 9+ R has not occurred in LA area yet…after the usual 9+ in Chile (occurs every 30-40 years). Just speculation of course… but what else is there to explain all the heightened volcanoes, earthquakes etc?
Well, I’m packing my car and heading for the hills right now. Only with camera gear though and the hope of getting some nice sunset shots.
This blog has been discussing the ongoing activity and it’s fascinating:
http://scienceblogs.com/eruptions/
They don’t seem to believe it represents any immediate climatic shift given it doesn’t appear to be outputting much SO2, or ejecting it high enough. They’re also stressing the flouride cautions are local warnings, so basically no need to panic, yet.
I just received a tweet saying that at Orlando airport all United flights overseas are cancelled because of the volcanic ash. I haven’t confirmed this yet, and it does seem odd.
Anyone have any updated info?
Tenuc (09:35:09) :
I though we asked the Icelanders to send us cash 🙂
Cash… ash… An honest mistake.
All those airports closed, with likely more to come?
Volcano > Terrorism
Ah heck, let’s really put it in perspective:
Nature > Terrorism
Which is more likely to disrupt your life, to kill you, suddenly, seemingly randomly? (Although not maintaining “awareness of your surroundings” can be cited as worsening your odds for both.)
Figure everything together, and it’s clear “the Mother Earth that loves me” is the one I should fear the most!
We live in Scotland and on the way back from the DIY shop I suddenly realised the bus I was following was kicking up clouds of dust. Looking closer the road had a distinctive tramway going down the road. This could just be normal dust, or perhaps agriculture, but I’m not aware of anything!
For more information on the eruption have a look at this site:
http://www.newsmice.com/show.php?id=256
The volcano is erupting under a glacier. The vast melting and run off have increased river levels by up to 3 metres/10 feet. Villagers have been evacuated.
Oh dear, the glaciers are melting, the sea level is rising, wildlife endangered, risk of flooding increased, people having to be evacuated, whole of UK airspace closed…of course, if man did such a thing there would be a heck of complaint by the green lobby; but if old mother Gaia does it, that’s all just fine and dandy. Mother earth is angry! You must atone for your sins by buying carbon indulgences.
Clearly the people of Iceland owe the other Europeans some form of subsidy for polluting the Europeans air so wantonly. It’s Climate Imperialism I tell you.
If this eruption continues for some time it will have an effect on global temps.
Ask AL BABY (AKA:EL GORDO), Nobel Prize winner and illuminated post normal climatic scientist, HOW MANY SUV EXAUSTS WOULD EQUAL, AND IN HOW MANY HUNDREDS OF YEARS, the SO2 gases emitted by this single volcano?
OT but could this develop into a major story?
http://bishophill.squarespace.com/blog/2010/4/15/russell-inquiry-cant-report-the-truth.html
Bill Marsh (10:26:43) :
If this eruption continues for some time it will have an effect on global temps.
Imagine if it continues thru next Thursday. Europe may have to cancel Earth Day because of Mother Nature. haha.
Bill Marsh (10:26:43) :
Not only did Iceland default on their debt to the UK, but now they are shutting down UK airports. England hasn’t invaded any small islands since 1983, but with the TV debates coming up shortly, it might be a good time to start some sabre rattling.
Pictures of the eruptions and surrounding area:
“Iceland’s disruptive volcano”
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/04/icelands_disruptive_volcano.html
Paul
I love this web site but you had every chance to put Wales on the map but blew it?
Any chance Anthony or Charles the Great? If you do please use red letters.
Take care.
REPLY: Thank you but, no chance at all, subzero in fact. Here’s why. I’ve had this argument for 25 years. You see in TV weather almost every week, I’d get some grumbler who lived in a town I call “Outer Podunk” call or write in to complain that his/her town wasn’t included on the weather map. The rationale usually was something like this: “but you show New Podunk, and it’s only a bit bigger than us”.
Of course if I added the town, then the cycle would repeat at an even more granular level.
And so it goes, ad infinitum. The weather map would soon be so cluttered with name detritus as to be unreadable.
So to everyone who wants some map modification to add some named location my answer is “NO”. And please stop asking. The last time I dealt with this issue over England Wales, Scotland etc. I got so fed up with these requests (and my cold) that I took a weekend sabbatical and WUWT had no new stories. Don’t make me go there again.
Also the first image is from ESA, with labels they provided, which I followed for the magnified view. Complain to them for snubbing Wales, I’m not having this argument. – Anthony
The Geological Society of London .
http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/gsl/education/resources/page2969.html
*********************************
http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2010/04/paul-marks-technology-correspo.html
The DAILY NEWS reported this recently about the Iceland volcano eruption. The topic that is of concern to me is what could happen potentially if this continues and I quote in part only below from the article. Global warming should be least of Europe’s concerns . There are far bigger risks from potentially sustained cooling due to a variety of other causes.
From Daily News;
“The fiercest eruption that has occurred in Iceland in historic times is the 1783-1758 eruption in Lakagígar.
Approximately 80 percent of all sheep and 50 percent of horses and cattle died due to fluorine poisoning and at least every fifth Icelander, around 10,000 people, died from hunger.
Ash was carried to the European mainland and other continents—thousands died from poisoning in the British Isles.
The climate cooled which caused famine in many countries, including France. So the Lakagígar eruption is believed to have helped fuel the French Revolution in 1789. “
http://www.icelandreview.com/icelandreview/daily_news/?cat_id=21123&ew_0_a_id=359727
Just wait until Katla awakens.Thats gonna be quite an event.Good grief.
Stephan (10:04:57) :
“I wanna stake my claim here to previous postings: Abnormal solar Geomagnetic status is affecting tectonic plate movement on earth. Lucky a 9+ R has not occurred in LA area yet…after the usual 9+ in Chile (occurs every 30-40 years). Just speculation of course… but what else is there to explain all the heightened volcanoes, earthquakes etc?”
Domino effect?
One plate slips, which puts pressure on another plate, which then slips or puts large pressure on another plate, which relieves pressure on the back side of another plate, which allows magma to break through the surface, which causes another plate to slip,etc., etc.?
Just thought I’d throw my speculation into the mix, since you asked. My only claim to expertise on volcanos is I know that throwing virgins in to placate the gods has been proven to reduce population.
Stacey (10:41:01) :
I was thinking about writing a story about the extreme tidal changes in the Bristol Channel. I promise to give Wales lots of prominent coverage.
Mother earth is angry! You must atone for your sins by buying carbon indulgences
Not at all!
All earthquakes, all tsunamis, beginning with the december 2004 Sumatra earthquakes and tsunamis, all natural disasters now happening, are caused as a reaction, and as a revenge, a retaliation of our wise Mother Nature against those idiotic ideas promoted by Al Gore and followers, who have dared removing from her breathing atmosphere that blessed CO2 gas which promotes the growth of her most beloved children: the trees.
If this eruption ends up causing a significant cooling effect on the Summer of 2010 here in the States it’s going to demolish all the long range predictions for a hot Summer from the Farmer’s Almanac to 3 other sources that don’t use Co2 as a factor.
The worst thing that could happen right now is turn the promise for a hot Summer for those people in the Midwest to another ‘Summer that wasn’t’, could even happen to us too depending on the effects of this eruption and whether or not another big one follows.
The volcano erupted because the glacier was melting. If the glacier had remained solid, this most likely would not have happened, because the environment above and around the volcano would not have changed. This is a perfect example of how global warming can trigger scary events that accelerate the process out of control. Now, surely other glaciers are melting faster because of this, thinning the barriers above other underground volcanoes.
stevengoddard (10:37:46) :
England hasn’t invaded any small islands since 1983, but with the TV debates coming up shortly, it might be a good time to start some sabre rattling.
Which small islands did England invade in 1983 then? If you are trying to refer to the Falkland Islands a) it wasn’t an invasion but a response to an invasion; b) it wasn’t England but the U.K.; and c) it was in 1982.
If you are looking for a small island invaded in 1983, try Grenada. Oh hang on, that wasn’t by England, was it?
http://climateprogress.org/2010/03/29/coal-mountaintop-removal-epa-permit/
Our forward thinking EPA doesn’t allow mountain top removal. I don’t know how they tackle perps regarding volcanoes.
I guess grounding planes cuts that nasty carbon and can serve as a carbon indulgence/offset to the volcanic polution spewing event.
The Met Office has been wrong the last 10 out of ten years in it’s forecast.
9 for 10 it erred by forecasting much too warm. This may be their lucky day.
BTW, this ash is enormously fertile and will invigorate plant growth after a few rainfalls. It is a well recognized phenomenon in Hawaii.
Guess in the UK, we’ll just sit and wait for the Fimbulvetr.
Can I assume that someone is going to produce long lists of numbers and graphs proving how destructive air travel is, by how much cleaner it becomes when nothing is flying?
Big question is whether Eyjafjallajokull erupting is going to set off Katla down the road apiece, as they have previous on this, and that could get unpleasant.
“kadaka (10:10:59) : Figure everything together, and it’s clear “the Mother Earth that loves me” is the one I should fear the most!”
You always hurt the one you love
The one you shouldn’t hurt at all
You always take the sweetest rose
And crush it till the petals fall
You always break the kindest heart
With a hasty word you can’t recall
So If I broke your heart last night
It’s because I love you most of all
Is this the causative link between low solar activity and global cooling?
http://www.robertb.darkhorizons.org/SSNvsVOL.JPG
If I remember it right, Iceland built dams to channel the lava the last time they had a blowout. Else, there isn’t much anyone can do about a volcano. Get out of the way.
Earth shows who the real boss is.
Henry chance (11:08:21) :
Lucky day : By standing next to the warmth of fresh lava.
🙂 Send in Gore, he’s in tight with GAIA, and I’m sure he’ll be able to toss a few Carbon Credits on the barbie.
ScientistForTruth (10:12:28) : No no, mother Gaia is angry that she is not getting her just cut of the proceeds of carbon indulgences. She now demands a “green” sacrifice as punishment and as a warning. I would think that only the top management will do.
I thought I read on here in one of the posts/threads that this volcano was supposed to not put much ash and gasses into the air due to the type of rock that is located around it…..I looked but can’t find it…..Seems the person or persons that said that were wrong….HMMM could this be the high latitude volcanisum that Bastardi was talking about?
Hernando (10:56:22) said:
Congratulations Hernando. You have just managed a perfect imitation of a loony warmingist.
Stephan (10:04:57) :The 9+ is just waiting for his friend Al when he will go to his summer´s vacation residence.
I love the Google ad I got displayed with this article: “Fly to Finland” (In Norwegian; In other words, fly from Norway to Finland)
Seems to me that Iceland should get a huge carbon trading credit for this heroic contribution to lowering global temperatures.
Lucky I live Hawaii…
There are any oficial index in order to know the magnitude of an eruption?, something to be able to make equivalences with previous eruptions like the one ocurred on Pinatubo.
H.R. (10:48:19) :
…My only claim to expertise on volcanos is I know that throwing virgins in to placate the gods has been proven to reduce population
No it hasn’t. Firstly there has never been a large enough pool of virgins in the human population. Secondly their status is mostly a temporary one anyway, and has been too rarely ended by volcanism to have a measurable effect.
A fascinating film of the eruption with amazing details…
http://http.ruv.straumar.is/static.ruv.is/vefur/150410loftmyndir_vefur.wmv
Iceland takes a dump on the UK, literally. First they gave the banksters there the middle finger, now this. ROTFLMAO. Yes, what comes around goes around. It’s Karma.
When is the best moment to see the asscloud??? The sun is setting tight now in the Netherlands.
Good animation from EUMETSAT:
http://oiswww.eumetsat.org/IPPS/html/MSG/RGB/AIRMASS/WESTERNEUROPE/index.htm
Regards
asscloud…. oops I mean Ash cloud. sorry.
Im a hurry I overlooked another animated pictures:
http://oiswww.eumetsat.org/IPPS/html/MSG/RGB/ASH/ICELAND/index.htm
http://oiswww.eumetsat.org/IPPS/html/MSG/RGB/DUST/CENTRALEUROPE/index.htm
http://oiswww.eumetsat.org/IPPS/html/MSG/RGB/MICROPHYSICS/CENTRALEUROPE/index.htm
Regards
Ani fule no that globular worming result in big swings of whether such as iseland volkanoes, sno-bound americas, grate rains, ect. So no serpizes heer.
(With apologies to the much-celebrated Molesworth, 9th Grade, UK, circa 1950s.)
So it is lack of sunspots from earlier article AND volcanoes?
Dr. Masters claims that due to latitude, this event will not affect global temperatures in his latest blog entry. Save this link for when warmists attribute lack of warming to this eruption.
Interesting the way the media is playing this. The UK daily Telegraph compares the eruption to the 1783 Laki Event and states;
“The amount of gas produced was enough to cause increase temperatures for a whole summer. “
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/7593716/Volcano-ash-chaos-previous-eruption-lasted-more-than-a-year.html
Yet a NASA article on the same eruption says there was up to a three degree Celsius cooling following the 1783 Icelandic eruption.
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2006/volcano_nile.html
The Wikipedia article on the Laki event of 1783 also claims an increase in temperatures for 1783 / 84. Could have sworn it said cooling last time I checked out that reference. No citation on the ‘hottest’ reference either.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laki
Methinks Wikipedia has been got at again.
Off topic here, Does anyone here have a list of mistakes in the summary for policy makers? Please e-mail to me of you do thanks. jigalypuff at g mail dot com
They will blaim this eruption on global warming. Global warming caused the glaciers to melt, this cap on the volcano being removed, now has allowed the lava to come to the surface.
Just wait, some warmer will say this.
Oh by the way, start calling these people ‘warmers”. It takes away their climate change hedge.
I smell sulfur both inside my apartment and outside. I live in Voss west of Bergen, Norway. They reported a couple of hours ago, that it smelled of sulfur in Bergen.
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/Volcanic-Ash-in-Atmosphere-Forces-Airspace-Closure-90925269.html
“What we are seeing in Iceland is that as the magma particles get towards the surface, they interact with the very cold water and they chill to form glassy fragments and these glassy fragments are small, they have sharp edges and when those get up in the air that is what is causing the risk to aviation,” says Colin Macpherson, a professor of Earth sciences at Britain’s Durham University.
—-
Hmmmm, they didn’t have many glaciers at Pinatubo last time I looked!! Interesting synergy, I wonder what the effect of “small glassy fragments” is upon Earth’s albedo?
Probably pretty good! Interesting times indeed!! Fireballs, earthquakes, eruptions…
Well I think I will just run out and get my car resmogged. Right now, I imagine they are willing to pass anything that emits less CO2 and particulates than another messy volcano.
Di di read that it just put out more CO2 than all the autos have put out since they were invented over 100 years ago; wazzat Otto Benz who made the first environmentally hazardous non-horse drawn buggy. Well I’ll go walk for lunch anyway; since it is Tea Party day anyway.
Something new is happening at this moment.
About half an hour ago a giant water surge (jökulhlaup) was seen coming from the glacier. Much larger than yesterday. People are being evaucated…
“The ash, which can damage aeroplane engines, was produced by a volcanic eruption under a glacier in Iceland.”
Volcano erupts under a glacier? Hmmm …would that cause melting? Naah, not man made.
Wish we could arrange for a volcano eruption under the Capitol Bldg in D.C. and maybe kick a little congressional “ash”.
I went to the website for planestupid, via the link provided by stevengoddard (09:29:27).
I would say they are just like any generation of rebellious youth, but the environmental ‘movement’, green ‘activist’ types are really adamant people. Take this, for example:
” Climate change. Yes, we’ll keep saying it until we’re blue in the face. No matter what industry would like to have us believe, there’s no way we can keep expanding air travel all over the UK and reduce our carbon emissions: high carbon industry is incompatible with a low carbon society. Period.”
Talk about inflexible!
They head up a post with: “Nigel Lawson is an arse” and conclude it with “Lawson, you’re an arse”. Eloquent they are not.
Anyway they must be in fits of rapture this evening with all airspace closed. They probably see it as a sign from ‘Gaia’ (hope I’ve spelt that right), the Earth telling us we have SINNED and we need to REPENT.
Actually, the juxtaposition (on the radio news here) of the Pope’s message that people need to repent for their sins and this volcano thing could be spun well by a good PR outfit.
Oh, and the the BBC radio gave special prominence to the residents in the Heathrow flight path area – who seemed to have had a very nice day without all that aviation going on.
So many messages! What to believe!
The BBC are exactly the type of Big Brother-controlled state media apparatus which George Orwell described in his book ‘1984’.
They will wring out of each newsworthy event some kind of propaganda advantage. Or they will try.
Is it more likely the decreased insolation will further slow the arctic ice melt, or will ash on the ice decrease its albedo accelerating ice melt?
Bill Sticker
Another significant point about the 1783-1784 eruption. It lasted 8 months. There is no doubt that there would be cooling and very significant if the current eruption is just as long or longer even though the current initial eruption was not that fierce as compared to the 1783-1784 eruption . All the signs of a potential world problem if this continues to send ash over Europe and Asia for months on end.[ potential risk only and not yet confirmed ] With all other planetary cycles headed for cooling also ,to pursue or fight global warming in this risky and very uncertain climate period would be very foolish . Yet this nonsense is starting up again at the UN despite the Copenhagen collapse.
Can you imagine all the efforts in all these years by the european union to enforce GREEN LAWS for a GREEN ENVIRONMENT, all the jobs losts, all the broken economies, to be ruined in one single day?
Good reference for Lakagigar eruption and its effect.
http://english.ust.is/National-Parks/Protectedareas/Lakagigar/
I dont get it. Why would a thin ash cloud bearly reaching the northern part of scotland shut down airports in southern england and northern europe? I plead ignorance on this topic..so im wondering why its such big news?
The ash is tough on the lungs, gets into everything including computers, and isn’t easy to get rid of because its so abrasive. Its also makes roads very slick. I hope it doesn’t hit populated areas.
If dust masks run short, do what this clever Anchorage woman suggested when Mt. Redoubt was about to erupt. “I don’t bother buying dust masks, just use coffee filters to cover my face”.
It may be blowing our way for some time
http://www.metcheck.com/V40/UK/FREE/jetstream.asp
Gotto get right now the votes to pass Cap&Trade bill!. It’s now or never!, folks out there won’t believe a thing after all these volcanic eruptions, those f* earthquakes everywhere…call the prophet inmediately and tell him to invent a tale!
I can see it now, volcanic ash hides man made CO2 caused global warming by 2 degrees. I can see this now “Gore stated today that the real numbers will be shocking once eruption is over.”
Gore stated “We need to make sure this info is out, WWUT is hiding the real data….”
LOL
gcb (10:08:08) :
Tenuc (09:35:09) :
I though we asked the Icelanders to send us cash 🙂
Cash… ash… An honest mistake.
——————————————
Thanks for the laugh! Not often I laugh out loud at a post.
The topic of the day at work has been the eruption, with it being blamed, tongue in cheek, for all sorts of unlikely events; deliveries delayed by drifts of ash in Southampton for example. Pronunciation of Eyjafjallajökull has also been a hot topic.
As the listen-to on Wikipedia is in ogg format we had been unable to hear it, because we don’t have anything with ogg support at work. The BBC chickened out of trying to pronounce it at all, just calling it “the Icelandic volcano” too.
I have been going around telling everyone it’s pronounced Eyeful-o-yoghurt.
Half an hour ago we watched the sun going down. A complete washout. OK, it was “nice” but we’ve seen much better and it was absolutely nothing to write home about.
In case anyone read my earlier post about putting out some sticky tape – yes I got some dust, none of it looked “volcanic” under a powerful hand lens. Above the most intriguing thing was the small flies that got caught.
Latest Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia report from KVERT: SHEVELUCH, KLYUCHEVSKOY and KARYMSKY: ORANGE (Explosive-effusive eruption of the volcanos continues.) BEZYMIANNY: YELLOW
http://www.kscnet.ru/ivs/kvert/updates.shtml
USGS Alaska Volcano Observatory
All Green (see green is good ; )
http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/
Hernando (10:56:22) :
The volcano erupted because the glacier was melting. If the glacier had remained solid, this most likely would not have happened, because the environment above and around the volcano would not have changed. This is a perfect example of how global warming can trigger scary events that accelerate the process out of control. Now, surely other glaciers are melting faster because of this, thinning the barriers above other underground volcanoes
Sure. and they could also say: the 2004 Aceh Earthquake ( and the Tsunami that accompanied it ) happend, because the ocean warmed a bit…about .25 degC and the underground “boiling” did it.
If “They” can stop global warming by reducing CO2, why can’t “They” stop a small volcano puffing a bit?
Of course, silly me; it’s all in the mind. I forgot.
The comments are almost as good as the article. Loved the photos from the Boston site… This event will be spun in any direction that makes Algore more money.
I love this comment from KVERT; see John from CA (12:56:56) for the link.
“According to satellite data, a big thermal anomaly was registering over the volcano all week.”
Mike Haseler (12:56:54) :
Half an hour ago we watched the sun going down. A complete washout. OK, it was “nice” but we’ve seen much better and it was absolutely nothing to write home about.
In case anyone read my earlier post about putting out some sticky tape – yes I got some dust, none of it looked “volcanic” under a powerful hand lens. Above the most intriguing thing was the small flies that got caught.
————————————————————–
Calm observation is the path to understanding.
The NASA web site has an updated picture of the ash plume stretching to the Shetland Islands:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=43670
Paul
You know the saying: “If the mountain does not goes to Mahommed…”
Hope this Eyjafjallajökull goes to visit Al Baby ☺
Let’s for the moment assume a worst case scenario and that this will result in a long destructive release of ash.
Are there scenarios by which we could blunt the effects. Could we, and this is just an example, pump water either fresh or seawater into the volcano and co-precipitate the ash with water vapour in the atmosphere? Aside from the potential of producing a George Carlinesque mudstorm, could this shorten the lifespan of suspended dust in the air?
This is a point source emission so it lends itself well to a point source action.
@PaulH
United and others will cancel any Europe-bound flights because they fly into the airspace and therefore can’t land because of the eruption.
Clearly, Iceland is suffering from a virgin shortage. I wonder if pitching a few Climate Change Scientists into the volcano instead might work.
To all WWUTers downwind of the ash clouds, I send my best wishes for minimal damage to persons, pets, and property.
Per Strandberg (12:15:20) :
I smell something rotten too. Last time I was in your neck of the woods, I could have sworn that Voss was east of Bergen. What happened, globull worming caused it to go west?
Well I’m stuck away from home thanks to grounded flights, so I have a slightly different interest in this than normal.
Hernando (10:56:22) :
Oh, so when there was an eruption here a couple hundred years ago, there was a similar round of global warming? I don’t think that’s on the hockey stick, so I guess you’ve confirmed it’s wrong.
Stephan (10:04:57) :
“R”? What’s that? (Besides a statisical programming language.) Richter scale? That’s pretty much no longer used, among its flaws it specified a particular type of seismograph. I think current earthquakes are described by the total energy released as measured by the Moment Magnitude.
Interesting point quoted on BBC radio 5 Live Drive this evening.
Apparently Friends of the Earth are celebrating the fact that the airports closure has saved loads of CO2 from being emitted today.
Somehow I fear that they’re only giving part of the story here…….
Seems to be an eruption of entertaining posts. The real question is, are there enough virgins in Iceland to appease this god, or will they have to ship some there?
Michael (11:37:57) wrote: “Iceland takes a dump on the UK, literally. First they gave the banksters there the middle finger, now this. ROTFLMAO. Yes, what comes around goes around. It’s Karma.”
Sort of seems that way. Except that the Icelanders are getting the worst of it.
jeroen (11:37:57) : “When is the best moment to see the asscloud???”
Usually right after you hear the noise.
Kitefreak (12:25:20) wrote: “The BBC are exactly the type of Big Brother-controlled state media apparatus which George Orwell described in his book ‘1984′.”
Indeed. But because they are becoming so obviously ridiculous, and because of their accents, I call them Monty Python’s Ministry of Truth.
John from CA (12:41:11) wrote “The ash is tough on the lungs… I hope it doesn’t hit populated areas.”
Well, little too late for that hope.
Warmest volcanic season on record. Definitely.
“Hernando
The volcano erupted because the glacier was melting. If the glacier had remained solid, this most likely would not have happened, ”
Uh are you serious ? I sincerely hope that yours was an attempt at humor.
Anyway, the time might be right for a sacrifice. One blowhard comes to mind.
@ Agust H. Bjarnason (12:23:09) :
Something new is happening at this moment.
About half an hour ago a giant water surge (jökulhlaup) was seen coming from the glacier. Much larger than yesterday. People are being evaucated…
——————————-
You’re right, Bro. It is intensifying. Be safe and good luck.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_iceland_volcano
“A volcanic eruption in Iceland, which has thrown up a 6-km (3.7 mile) high plume of ash and disrupted air traffic across northern Europe, has grown more intense, an expert said on Thursday.
The eruption under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier continued to spew large amounts of ash and smoke into the air and showed no signs of abating after 40 hours of activity, said Pall Einarsson, a geophysicist at the University of Iceland.
“The seismographs are showing that since this morning the intensity of the eruption seems to be growing,” he said.”
Only the UK Met Office could publish a graphic where the colour key bears no relationship whatsoever to the facts on the ground, er, sorry, in the air.
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/europe/volcano/iceland.html
Using alarmist logic, let me explain:
It is all part of the Icelanders undeclared war against the UK:
I) The Icelanders won the ‘Cod War’ in the 1970s against the UK by stopping the British fishing fleet plundering their fish stocks.
ii) Icelandic banks then stole/lost over $3 billion in British savings deposits in the latest economic crisis.
iii) Britain’s Gordon Brown enacted a terrorism law to force the Icelanders to give the cash back.
iv) Icelanders have a referendum and give Brown the finger.
v) Now comes the ‘hockey stick’ part – there apparently is no ‘c’ in the Icelandic language, so instead of sending the UK cash, the Icelanders sent ash.
I find it ironic, that after Icelands economic woes, the land itself expels hot gas and ash in a violent geological event. Anthromorphic personification and very poor correlation I know.
Carry that over to England, and we should have lava running through the city of London, and the Yellow stone mega/ultra/hyper volcano popping its top in the States.
At least the AGW crowd can’t blame us for volcanism…..wait for it…..
KLA (11:34:57) :
“H.R. (10:48:19) :
…My only claim to expertise on volcanos is I know that throwing virgins in to placate the gods has been proven to reduce population.
No it hasn’t. Firstly there has never been a large enough pool of virgins in the human population. Secondly their status is mostly a temporary one anyway, and has been too rarely ended by volcanism to have a measurable effect.”
I must defend my thesis. It reduces the population by at least 1 (or more, depending on how many virgins are running about).
Flash of insight! It might have something to do with why the Cook expedition found the Tahitian women so “friendly.” None of the women wanted to be the only virgin around when a volcano was acting up.
JIT (just in time) for a (face-saving) “strategic retreat” –
Warmists exiting stage left … they will have managed to ‘beat the (offstage) hook’ by a safe margin.
.
.
This stuff is sulphurous. It must be that old beezlebub* coming to collect his own. We may soon be Goreless, Brownless, Milibandless, Boxerless, Pachauriless, etc. (We should be so lucky!)
* post-normal spelling
The real irony of this will be that the climate (can’t)forecasters will claim that the reason it hasn’t warmed is because of the particulates from the volcano and in doing so they will underline the fact that the level of particulates dramatically decreased as a result of clean air acts in the 1970 resulting in cleaner “Warmer” climate.
It will also highlight the fact that these environmentalists who were fear-mongering about a nuclear winter caused by air particulates in the 1970s have the solution to any global warming right in their hands.
And if the climate forecasters don’t believe nuclear weapons could stop all this global warming hysteria in its track. May I suggest taking anyone who still believes this global warming rubbish to a small uninhabited island where we will duly let off a few dozen nuclear devices and suddenly global will no longer be a problem!
Sunfighter (12:36:55) :
I dont get it. Why would a thin ash cloud bearly reaching the northern part of scotland shut down airports in southern england and northern europe? I plead ignorance on this topic..so im wondering why its such big news?
As a couple of commenters have already mentioned, volcanic ash is abrasive — it will “frost” aircraft windshields (okay, windscreens for the UK folks) and erode the turbine blades in jet engines. If it’s thick enough, it can also clog the intakes or jam the rotating portions of the compressor sections, causing compressor stalls (the turbine engine equivalent of a backfire, but violent enough to cause internal damage to the engine). The ash from violent eruptions is also as corrosive to aircraft-grade aluminum as salt — the helicopters flying search and rescue missions during the Mt. St. Helens eruption were all grounded for structural inspections for several weeks afterwards.
@ Hernando (10:56:22) : Y’all come back when you’ve graduated from grade school.
This requires a massive sacrifice of virgins.
Perhaps we could borrow those dedicated and reserved for the Islamic Jihadists.
There is a theory – and unfortunately I cannot remember the reference for it – that Iceland’s volcanoes were one of the principal reasons for the intensity of the Pleistocene Ice Age.
About 70% of Iceland is less than 3.1 million years old and the country is believed to produce around one third of the world’s annual lava at the present time.
However, there currently are no active flood basalt systems in Iceland, but there have been a lot in recent geological time. Hopefully, there will be none in the immediate future.
15 April: UK Financial Times: Police quiz climate change sceptics
By James Boxell and Fiona Harvey
Charles Rotter, a San Francisco-based blogger who moderates one of the first sites to have published the leaked data, has also been approached by Norfolk police because of his submission of an FOI request.
Local police are being helped by officers from the National Domestic Extremism Team, leading the climate sceptics to question the involvement of a unit set up to counter home-grown terrorists and radicals. A unit spokesman said the two officers were assigned because of their expertise in computer forensics and because they had experience of dealing with environmental activists…
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b942edba-47f6-11df-b998-00144feab49a.html
How can we calculate when this volcano belches up as much ash and pollution as all the autos for all time have contributed.
Boy I would hate to see a really big volcano go off in Europe. The silence can’t last forever.
Janice (11:10:05) :
“kadaka (10:10:59) : Figure everything together, and it’s clear “the Mother Earth that loves me” is the one I should fear the most!”
You always hurt the one you love
The one you shouldn’t hurt at all
You always take the sweetest rose
And crush it till the petals fall
You always break the kindest heart
With a hasty word you can’t recall
So If I broke your heart last night
It’s because I love you most of all
In my head I hear this though…
You always hurt (Bang aaaagghhh) the one you love (owwwwwwuuwww)
The one you shouldn’t hurt at all (bang ahh bang)
You always take (slide whistle) the sweetest rose (sniff sniff sniff sniff)
And crush it till the petals fall (crash)
You always break (carunch) the kindest heart (thump thump)
With a hasty word you can’t recall (where are you you old bat)
So If I broke (carunch) your heart last night (crumpling paper)
It’s because I love you most of all (flairing finish)
Thanks Spike 🙂
The eruption will cause some ocean acidification and be blamed on man. Is there anything that is not man’s fault?
Bill,
I think Sunfighter’s question was not why is ash harmful, but why are they shutting down so much traffic if the plume is only hitting the north of the United Kingdom. The trans-alantic flights are stopped because the normal routes fly over Iceland or near to it. The inter-euorpean traffic could be shut down just due to uncertainty in the location of the plume and its intensity in various places. Not sure how well they can be tracked.
Sunfighter,
Fine volcanic ash is extremely nasty stuff, particularly in the quantities kicked out by a volcano having issues.
I was given a small bottle (1/2-1oz) of Mt. St. Helens ash during a visit after the eruption. Despite never opening the bottle, EVERYTHING in my suitcase was coated with a gritty film of volcanic ash by the time I got home. Clothes, shoes, toothbrush, toiletries everything, and it was impossible to remove. Had to dump the lot.
Avoid it like the plague, it get in anything.
e.g. see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_Flight_9
MattB (14:29:26) :
Another Spike classic:
If I give my heart to you…
I’ll have none and you’ll have two..
Stephan:
Don’t know about volcanoes, but number & intensity of quakes recently is about normal – http://geology.rockbandit.net/2010/03/01/has-there-been-an-increase-in-earthquake-activity/
Hernando (10:56:22) :
“The volcano erupted because the glacier was melting. If the glacier had remained solid, this most likely would not have happened, because the environment above and around the volcano would not have changed. This is a perfect example of how global warming can trigger scary events that accelerate the process out of control. Now, surely other glaciers are melting faster because of this, thinning the barriers above other underground volcanoes.”
=================================
I hope to God you mean this in jest.
If so, it’s very funny sarcasm.
But if you are serious, that is probably the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard in my life!
Either way it’s very funny… just that the first way we’re laughing with you, but the second way we’re laughing at you! LOL
I hope for your sake it’s the first. Cheers!
Chris
Norfolk Virginia USA
Hopefully the likely cooling that will result will bury the AGW nonsense. When the masses are freezing their butts off it will take a lot of convincing that the world is really getting warmer.
Hernando (10:56:22) :
Gordon Bennett! Hernando – tell me you are not serious. Please?
Ah, how to pronounce “Eyjafjallajökull”. As I have the ogg codecs installed, I could hear the wikipedia “pronounce it”. It’s more or less like “ayeveylayevayth”. Anyone could have figured that out by reading it.
Steve in SC (14:08:46) :
This requires a massive sacrifice of virgins.
Perhaps we could borrow those dedicated and reserved for the Islamic Jihadists.
It won’t be the Scottish ones, certainly. As the old song goes:
Four and twenty virgins came down from Inverness,
And when the ball was over, there were four and twenty less.
And an epitaph:
Here lie the bones of Elizabeth Charlotte;
Born a virgin, died a harlot.
She was aye a virgin at seventeen;
A very rare thing in Aberdeen.
Hernando (10:56:22)
I follow your logic.
Basically….
Something Somewhere changes or X
It affects something else Y to a magnitude Z
X to Y times Z = Event.
Now lets feed into this elegant equation some real world details.
Kid A (X), slams a door in New York house (Y), causing the extinction of the Chinese River Dolphin (Z).
Such a useful, utilitarian equation can be applied to any situation requiring gross corruption, graft and genocide as a result.
Magnitude needs clarifying.
Magnitude table:
1. Transfer a million $US to an NGO, All the bees die in a region, Arctic ice reduces 5% per anum per century.
2. Transfer a Billion $US to a UN franchise and a dozen NGO’s, send a kid to the Arctic, All the monarch Butterflies disappear, Koala’s become carnivorous, eat Japanese tourists in the blue mountains.
3. Transfer a Trillion to the UN directly, Credit 50 NGO’s with UN partnership programs, all polar bears spontaneously combust, the Arctic evaporates, revealing subterranean tunnels filled with glacier melting hot water. Petrol hits $10 US a ounce.
4. Transfer the entire material wealth of the US, Canada, U.K, Australia, E.U to the UN, create a standing green army of VERT-JUNGEN storm troopers aged 12 to 19, the seas vaporise, all the whales become sushi and James Hansen becomes Southern Economic Zone Commandant for life.
5.Reduce the Human population to 300 million worthy and deserving souls, all the glaciers catch fire, raining burning ice that cannot be extinguished by any human means down apon the Amazonian rainforest, which explodes with the power of a million Hiroshima bombs. The Moon crashes into Australia ending the Japanese/Koala war.
6.Huddle 90,000 of the worlds richest, most psychotic and demented Elite onto an exclusive man made island, make each one a king or Queen, served by an army of robot servants, the entire Biosphere collapses, Human life becomes the only life on earth, the Sun explodes showering the earth with magical fairy dust, turning everyone into immortal beings with god like powers, ragnorok begins with the storming of valhalla, interest rates level out.
I think the Hernado Effect on an Iceland volcano is about Magnitude 2 on the Fitzy/Hernado scale.
Brilliant, theres a NOBEL waiting to happen.
Don’t you just love the predictions of experts.
This one was on Monday-
“The volcanic activity has essentially stopped,” said Einar Kjartansson, a geophysicist at the Icelandic Meteorological Office. “I believe the eruption has ended.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100412/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_iceland_volcano_tourism
Eyjafjallajokull (pronounced ay-yah-FYAH’-plah-yer-kuh-duh)
“jeroen (11:37:57) : “When is the best moment to see the asscloud???”
Al Gored (13:43:56) : Usually right after you hear the noise.”
Right after Al eats a couple chili-cheese dogs??
If this volcano eruption last pretty long and cause earth surface temperature dropped about 1-2 Celsius, we may have a good opportunity to observe the temperature effect on CO2 concentration.
It is important to have an independent agency to measure CO2.
Terry has it exactly right. Large volcanic eruptions, which emit huge amounts of CO2, more than man can put out, will not cause additional warming. In fact, the particulate and aerosols will provide additional cooling. The summer may be average, maybe inperceptibly cooler, but I bet next winter will be brutally cold.
Why? Because in 1815, already in the Maunder Minimum, which alone caused brutally cold winters, there was a large volcanic eruption. The following year, 1816, was the year without a summer. The highest US temp in 1816 was in the Carolinas, sometime in August. It got up to a sweltering 40 F. With absolutely no influence, either way, from CO2.
I mean, really, do we always haev to ignore history? Is it some kind of human defect that we, alone among all the animals, can comtemplate history and then ignore it? We may be the dominant species but we are not necessarily the smartest.
Here is some more info: http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/22047
Is that cloud over Northern Ireland and Scotland, or more global warming still on the ground?
Sunfighter (12:36:55) :
I dont get it. Why would a thin ash cloud bearly reaching the northern part of scotland shut down airports in southern england and northern europe? I plead ignorance on this topic..so im wondering why its such big news?
As a couple of commenters have already mentioned, volcanic ash is abrasive — it will “frost” aircraft windshields (okay, windscreens for the UK folks) and erode the turbine blades in jet engines. If it’s thick enough, it can also clog the intakes or jam the rotating portions of the compressor sections, causing compressor stalls (the turbine engine equivalent of a backfire, but violent enough to cause internal damage to the engine). The ash from violent eruptions is also as corrosive to aircraft-grade aluminum as salt — the helicopters flying search and rescue missions during the Mt. St. Helens eruption were all grounded for structural inspections for several weeks afterwards.
I was living in Auckland in 1996 when Mt Ruapehu, positioned in the middle of the North Island, erupted and was belching ash for 6 weeks or more. Some of this landed on our home and garden and I can certainly verify how abrasive, gritty and unpleasant this ash can be. Flights were also disrupted. The key factor about the volcanic ash in this eruption was that it couldn’t be detected by normal aircraft radar, as it had no water in it and (according to the media then) aircraft radar is set up to detect clouds/water vapour. The net result was that all night flying into or out of Auckland was banned, and only day flights allowed, when the pilot could visually see ash clouds and fly around them. I still remember flying from Auckland to Wellington, seeing ash still coming out of Ruapeho and the various ash clouds this had formed and noting the longer than usual route the pilot was taking to avoid them. Hopefully the UK will be able to implement something similar.
KLA (11:34:57) :
H.R. (10:48:19) :
…My only claim to expertise on volcanos is I know that throwing virgins in to placate the gods has been proven to reduce population
No it hasn’t. Firstly there has never been a large enough pool of virgins in the human population. Secondly their status is mostly a temporary one anyway, and has been too rarely ended by volcanism to have a measurable effect.
This problem of the scarcity of virgins for throwing into volcanos to placate the gods can be solved by defining a new category of “Post-Normal Virginity”.
It’s a technique that has been used successfully in academia to swell the ranks of (climate) scientists.
Savethesharks (15:11:19) :
Fitzy (16:15:22) :
This page is definently worthy of a permanent link.
No mention of the old negative feed back argument on Ice covered volcano’s. Have I missed a post? One of the very first greenhouse sceptic arguments I heard 20 years ago was that Mann et al could not and should not discount or exclude volcanic eruptions from the green house temperature data because warming could have caused the eruptions in the past.
Where Ice sits on a volcano its weight counters the pressure in the magma chamber. A small loss of ice due to local warming can trigger a proportional release of pressure which melts more ice giving a nice and quite catastrophically fast feed back. The ash and SO2 cools the planet renormalising the temperature.
This may have happened with these two volcano’s. Has someone debunked this theory or is it just forgotten or is everyone taking it as an unstated ‘obvious’ assumption.
There is a good chance that the Warmests will try to run with the “Nothing to see here; move on.” line and will try to correct any cooling effects away. It presents an opportunity to rewrite the code and move the goal posts, tamper …er… smooth the data some more.
This wont help the carbon markets now both are flat-lining. The Chicago exchange has dropped back to 10 c from a high of 15 cents. I bet a lot of people lost their money [green pension funds] on that little bump. The futures fund is headed to as close to zero as the software allows and the euroexchange is bouncing about near 14 Euro’s but the volumes at zero!
As the futures go there also goes the market. The hope of getting a cap and trade in the USA and Australia has gone all cloudy too. It now has a snowballs chance in hell: or is that a glacier in a volcano.
geoff pohanka (12:09:57) :
“They will blaim this eruption on global warming. ”
So that would be a “warmblaim”(the opposite of a chillblaim) wouldn’t it?
Nathan (09:53:00) :
Interesting and annoying for other countries, but is there really anything Iceland can do about this? It’s not like you can control volcanoes.
of course they could throw more glacier on it…. oh wait that would cause the oceans to rise!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Never mind……. da da… to do do dee….lala la………..
ron from Texas (17:55:09) :
Do you have a reference for temperature? I believe the high temperature in New England was well above 80°F, but the problem was the depressed storm track and cold air in Canada allowed frequent cold fronts with subfreezing weather behind them.
Thomas Jefferson’s weather log recorded fairly normal, at least non-damaging, temperatures in Virginia. For notes on New England, see http://wermenh.com/1816.html
Oh – the Tambora explosion was a lot bigger than the current eruption and rich in SO2. We’ll see how this one turns out.
“Hernando (10:56:22) :
The volcano erupted because the glacier was melting”…
…No. The volcano erupted because the volcano erupted. A glacier on top of a volcano is the equivalent of a flea on top of an elephant.
Correction! Should read!
I smell sulfur both inside my apartment and outside. I live in Voss east of Bergen, Norway. They reported a couple of hours ago, that it smelled of sulfur in Berg
“Why would a thin ash cloud bearly reaching the northern part of scotland shut down airports in southern england and northern europe?”
…Don’t believe everything you read in the British papers. Yesterday, in London it was bright, sunny and warm. Contrary to MSM reports, there were many flights over London. How do I know this? Because I SAW them. Some papers have printed pictures of our airports with a sickly yellow atmospheric glow all around. This has less to do with volcanoes than Photoshop.
The jets have been grounded because of a sandwich-like layering of ash particles in the atmosphere which raise concerns over the safety of the engines. It’s mainly precautionary, and reflects our “Health and Safety” and legal culture more than any real threat to the environment.
Nature – don’t you just love it. Showing UN, IPCC and various Governments who really is in charge of the planets environment.
Re: Mike Haseler (12:56:54) :
Half an hour ago we watched the sun going down. A complete washout. OK, it was “nice” but we’ve seen much better and it was absolutely nothing to write home about.
—
Same from the Cotswolds, but if I’d checked the imagery they’re probably too far south for any noticeable effects. Still, it was a nice evening to be in the great outdoors. I did wake up to a rather strong sulphurous smell though, but I suspect that was more to do with the sausage, eggs, beans and chips I ate on the way home.
Wally (14:43:23) :
Bill,
I think Sunfighter’s question was not why is ash harmful, but why are they shutting down so much traffic…
Yup — I re-read his question and got that as part two of a two-parter, but circumstances precluded my addressing the flight routes. Dadgum Third-World servers and inconsiderate sandstorms…
GilesE (19:56:40) :
The key factor about the volcanic ash in this eruption [Mt Ruapehu] was that it couldn’t be detected by normal aircraft radar, as it had no water in it and (according to the media then) aircraft radar is set up to detect clouds/water vapour.
True dat. Volcanic ash can’t be detected on aircraft radar — what aircraft radar *does* detect is rain (medium to heavy precipitation) and hail, because those are two indicators of thunderstorms and the probability of extreme turbulence and microbursts, which are airplane-killers.
David Ball (17:59:05) :
Here is some more info:….
Thank you David, I always enjoy reading articles by you Father. He reminded me that the USA now has no grain reserves. The system was abolished with the 1996 “Freedom to Farm Bill” and the last of the reserves were used up in 2008.
“In summary, we have record low grain inventories globally as we move into a new crop year. We have demand growing strongly. Which means that going forward even small crop failures are going to drive grain prices to record levels. As an investor, we continue to find these long term trends..very attractive.” Food shortfalls predicted: 2008
“Recently there have been increased calls for the development of a U.S. or international grain reserve to provide priority access to food supplies for Humanitarian needs. The National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA) and the North American Export Grain Association (NAEGA) strongly advise against this concept” July 22, 2008 letter to President Bush
Dan Amstutz, former VP of Cargill wrote the 1996 “Freedom to Farm bill” and the World Trade Organization Agreement on Agriculture. For this North American Export Grain Association created the Amstutz Award.
“Throughout his very successful career Dan Amstutz represented and championed ideas and goals of NAEGA membership…The Amstutz Award is given by the North American Export Grain Association in honor of Dan Amstutz and in recognition of his outstanding and extraordinary service to the export grain and oilseed trade from the United States. Appropriately, the first recipient of this distinguished service award was Mr. Amstutz.”
“In fact, the U.S. projections for the current year [2002] are that 53% of its wheat crop, 47% of cotton, 42% of rice, 35% of soybeans, and 21% of corn will be exported. This has only been made possible by the heavy subsidies and the removal of trade barriers or QRs in the developing countries.” Source
Cargill by the way is the second largest privately held corporation in the USA
Has anyone calculated how much carbon dioxide
emission is being aborted by the cancellation of 17, 000
airplane flights vs the carbon dioxide emitted by
the volcano?
Has the volcano actually improved Europe air “quality”?
Also will the Bonn conference be aborted?
No essays, please.
Also, we will learn whether this volcanoe heats the atmosphere or cools it.
Dear Anthony
Please accept my apologies I was joking?
I had some thoughts too
I think this could possibly afftect the weather for some time to come.
Is it any wonder then that because of the billowing plumes of ash coming from the Eyjafjallajokull glacier near Reykjavík, Iceland, hundreds of thousands of passengers now find themselves ‘fortunately’ grounded?
http://just-me-in-t.blogspot.com/2010/04/under-proverbial-cloud.html
Mike Odin (05:31:36)
In the excellent book The Resilient Earth (I have only read parts — but as always good parts — of it, since I’m not a climate sceintist), by Doug L Hoffman och Allen Simmons, they mention this in chapter 7:
“All volcanoes combined produce about 500,000,000
tons (½ a gigaton) of CO2 per year, about 2.8% of
man’s yearly emissions. But, over long periods of
time, the contribution of volcanoes can be
significant. There have been periods in Earth’s past
that had higher levels of volcanic activity.”
http://www.theresilientearth.com/files/pdfs/the_resilient_earth-chapter_7.pdf
They is also mention volcanoes in chapter 5. E g this interresting stuff:
In most discussions about CO2 and the greenhouse
effect, volcanoes are mentioned as a rather minor
source of gas emissions (page 82). Yet scientists
have credited volcanic CO2 with ending the drastic
snowball Earth ice ages of the Precambrian.
Though biologic activity controls the short-term
carbon balance, in the long-term volcanoes provide
the majority of atmospheric carbon. This can be
shown with some simple math. […]
http://www.theresilientearth.com/files/pdfs/the_resilient_earth-chapter_5.pdf
(BTW, I think 1000s of airplanes with good fossil burning, or 100000 of cars with catalyzer, is far more clean than this ash spewing volcano. This is more like a million of the DDR car Trabant?)
BrianMcL (13:43:27) :
“Interesting point quoted on BBC radio 5 Live Drive this evening.
Apparently Friends of the Earth are celebrating the fact that the airports closure has saved loads of CO2 from being emitted today.
Somehow I fear that they’re only giving part of the story here…….”
Ridiculous people.
Don’t think I’ve laughed so much at a thread’s comments before, good job!
CNN just made a blooper by posting a picture of a sunset in Hoofdorp, Netherlands off a sunset last night. I live nearby and I can tell you. The ashcloud was still on the Norhtsea during the sunset. I am concerned about the way media is not cheking there sources.
“Apparently Friends of the Earth are celebrating the fact that the airports closure has saved loads of CO2 from being emitted today.”
…What do they think is coming out of the top of that volcano? Enough superheated carbon dioxide to force hundreds of thousands of tons of ash into the air, perhaps? Or maybe it’s just some form of fairy dust? Has anyone in FoE checked if one volcano emits more carbon dioxide in one day than all the jet planes in the world put together do in ten years? Or maybe they rejoice when millions of people have had their lives and jobs disrupted because, after all, they are just a bunch of rabid human-haters?
Per Strandberg (00:59:33) And it forms sulphurous acid in the lungs. I once was in the middle of a SO2 cloud dragging near the ground (caused by an accident at a zinc refinery where I worked) and I had left my mask at my desk, I just fainted. This gas , as you know, is heavier than air, so it has to be removed out from the lungs by a current of oxygen, mechanically, so to say. Everyone seem to have forgotten here that SO2 is the “seed” in water droplets formation and hence of cloud formation, and if in excessive or concentrated amounts can originate the famous “acid rain”, so…., now you know that your car’s exhaust is like a fresh summer breeze compared with this.
Mother Gaia is just sharpen its aim….next time it will be more precise,…she is drawing near…a good hit and there will be almost no more enemy fire from climate change lines. Sorry if some collateral damage: This is not an excercise!!
CRU UNDER SOMBER CLOUDS!!!!
Linked on the Eruptions Blog
Eyjafjallajökull eruption continues to wreak havoc across Europe
An article on tv2nyhetene
Norwegian satellite photo shows the ash cloud from the volcano
machine translated via Google Translate
[quote]Peter Hearnden (09:43:11) :
[snip]
“Denialists” is not acceptable here. Take it elsewhere. ~dbstealey, mod.[/quote]
What a surprise, censorship on WUWT. Your hypocrisy knows no bounds.
Connor (04:25:46),
That was parody, right? If not, you just don’t understand what censorship is.
I and many other commenters here have had inconvenient posts disputing the CAGW agenda at RealClimate [and climate progress, tamino, etc.] deleted in their entirety without ever being posted. That is censorship — not the barring of a deliberately insulting word.
Barring the use of objectionable language, specifically the use of “denialist,” which is meant to demonize others by comparing them to Holocaust deniers is not censorship, any more than refusing to allow people to use a profane word in a church is censorship.
Unlike true censoring blogs like RealClimate, this site allows and encourages different points of view. The proscription against the derogatory and inflammatory term “denialist” has been made clear at the “Best Science” site. It is not acceptable here, where we are guests and expected act the part.
Censorship is government banning of free speech. RealClimate is funded by the government, because Gavin Schmidt, an employee of NASA and paid by the taxpayers, routinely and extensively moderates the RealClimate blog during his working hours. Complaints are currently in the system over that very issue. But here, government employees are not being paid from the public treasury to restrict your freedom of speech. Simply use a different term, and your problem goes away. What’s so hard about that?
If you have a problem with the barring of the word “denialist,” there are numerous other blogs where you can use the term, and where the use of that offensive label is actively encouraged.
See the difference?
LOL @ “Best Science sit”, so you guys know how to motivate your minions to freak online polls, that doesn’t give you any scientific credibility
You know what I think?
Murder rates are a big lie made up by politicians and the liberal media.
I don’t know anyone who has been murdered, so I don’t believe people actually kill each other. My neighborhood is perfectly safe, and people don’t even yell at each other here. And people have died of natural causes for hundreds of years!! We can’t just start off blaming this on guns and knives, because there are plenty of other reasons why they could have died. Just open your mind people.
And I don’t have any good reason to believe the crime stories and statistics they talk about on TV. Politicians are just trying to scare us to get votes, so they can raise my taxes to pay for things like prisons and police cars. I know you are one of those so-called “smart people” and you are going to say, “but look at all the evidence and the numbers” and blah blah blah. I don’t believe that crap, because they were made up in the far left wing criminology colleges. I never believe anything one of those democrats say…
[snip – we aren’t going to have a denialism discussion hijack this thread – not interested in your protests that will follow either]
Pathetic. enjoy your little make believe world!
REPLY: Heh, enjoy yours. What’s pathetic is that you feel the need to call people names and label them. I simply will not have a discussion of your favoritism of the label “denier” here. That’s a sure sign of insecurity when you fall back on name calling and labels.
You are free to comment on anything else. Now scurry off and we’ll watch your report how “terrible” we are on other blogs, your MO is well known. – A
man i was going to go Iceland and my flight was cancelled
this is not fair why today
[snip] How many times do you have to be told that calling people denialists is not acceptable here? ~dbs, mod.
I was wondering, is it possible that this big cloud of volcanic ash caused lower temperatures in Europe this weekend? Seems logical… Any comments? Thank you bye
My earnest wish is that Government of affected countries would tread with caution, the lives of their citizens should be accorded utmost priority and not economic loses. The rush to open up air space by some countries because of economic consideration should be reconsidered, let’s allow experts decree the safety slogan before using people as guinea pigs.