Iceland volcano threat

blacbird · Aug 19, 2014

Disturbing things are happening below Iceland:

http://news.msn.com/world/thousands-of-intense-earthquakes-rock-iceland

Iceland has several volcanoes of much greater significance that Eyawhateverthehelljökull which erupted in 2010 and disrupted air traffic over Europe for weeks. Notable among those are Hekla, Katla and Laki. The latter is a 17-mile long fissure that erupted for several months, continuously, in 1783-1784 and ultimately killed many tens of thouands of people across northern Europe, mainly via release of huge amounts of sulfur dioxide, which combined with oxygen and water to form sulfuric acid clouds.

Another stupendous eruption from Katla or Hekla (I disremember which) was even worse, about 1000 years ago. At the time Eya*** went off in 2010 it was reported that there is a history of that one being followed shortly by a bigger blast from one of the other nearby volcanoes. Well . . . now we have some really disturbing seismic stuff going on there.

Pay some attention to this.

caw

Helix · Aug 19, 2014

*engages vague memory* Didn't Hekla start grumbling again last year?

There are webcams for some Icelandic locations, including volcanoes, here.

Zoombie · Aug 19, 2014

Didn't one of those eruptions cause a mini ice age?

efreysson · Aug 19, 2014

blacbird said:
Another stupendous eruption from Katla or Hekla (I disremember which) was even worse, about 1000 years ago. At the time Eya*** went off in 2010 it was reported that there is a history of that one being followed shortly by a bigger blast from one of the other nearby volcanoes. Well . . . now we have some really disturbing seismic stuff going on there.

Pay some attention to this.

caw

Katla is considered to be linked to Eyjafjallajökull, but Bárðarbunga (the one rumbling now) is completely unrelated.

Zoombie said:
Didn't one of those eruptions cause a mini ice age?

Laki was pretty apocalyptic, yes. It did cause cold winters over much of the planet, crop failures in Europe, effected things as far as Japan and killed a fifth of the Icelandic population.

According to the morning news, the Bárðarbunga area is seeing earthquakes almost every minute and is being closed off and evacuated.

Exciting, no?

Alessandra Kelley · Aug 20, 2014

http://www.wired.com/2013/06/local-and-global-impacts-1793-laki-eruption-iceland/

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com...-1783-how-the-laki-eruptions-changed-history/

The 1783-1784 Laki eruption poured out almost fifteen cubic kilometers of basalt, as well as clouds of sulfuric acid that were detected in China.

Between ten and twenty thousand Icelanders died of the "haze famine." Tree ring growth in North America suggests a couple of terrible cold years, and crops failed across Europe.

Widespread famine from those crop failures, by the way, was one of the reasons given for triggering of the French Revolution, five years later.

StormChord · Aug 20, 2014

efreysson said:
Exciting, no?

See, I have the same attitude, but when I grin about fascinating natural disasters, people freak out. So unfair.

Helix · Aug 20, 2014

efreysson said:
Katla is considered to be linked to Eyjafjallajökull, but Bárðarbunga (the one rumbling now) is completely unrelated.

Laki was pretty apocalyptic, yes. It did cause cold winters over much of the planet, crop failures in Europe, effected things as far as Japan and killed a fifth of the Icelandic population.

According to the morning news, the Bárðarbunga area is seeing earthquakes almost every minute and is being closed off and evacuated.

Exciting, no?

Very!

Just make sure Iceland's still there in 2017, because it's on my List of Places to See.

Which town was it that was saved from advancing lava by cooling the flow's front with sea water hoses?

Forbidden Snowflake · Aug 20, 2014

As long as Iceland doesn't drop into the Ocean to never be found again... I really want to visit, it sounds lovely!

KTC · Aug 20, 2014

Forbidden Snowflake said:
As long as Iceland doesn't drop into the Ocean to never be found again... I really want to visit, it sounds lovely!

I've been planning my vacation there. It's sinfully cheap...I feel like I'm taking advantage.

Is it just me, or is anyone else thinking Sean Penn is going to get some really exciting footage of the eruption?

Yeah...I'm going to hell.

Vince524 · Aug 20, 2014

The smart ass in me says the volcano is just pissed because of it's name. Eyawhateverthehelljökull.
What the hell kind of name is that?

I hope everyone in the are stay safe.

firedrake · Aug 20, 2014

Just heard on the news that Iceland's Met Office has issued a yellow warning for aviation, it's their second highest 'alert' and evacuations are underway. Bloody scary.

Plot Device · Aug 20, 2014

blacbird said:
Disturbing things are happening below Iceland:

http://news.msn.com/world/thousands-of-intense-earthquakes-rock-iceland

Iceland has several volcanoes of much greater significance that Eyawhateverthehelljökull which erupted in 2010 and disrupted air traffic over Europe for weeks.

We'll just call her "Eya-kull" for short.

blacbird said:
Notable among those are Hekla, Katla and Laki. The latter is a 17-mile long fissure that erupted for several months, continuously, in 1783-1784 and ultimately killed many tens of thouands of people across northern Europe, mainly via release of huge amounts of sulfur dioxide, which combined with oxygen and water to form sulfuric acid clouds.

Another stupendous eruption from Katla or Hekla (I disremember which) was even worse, about 1000 years ago. At the time Eya*** went off in 2010 it was reported that there is a history of that one being followed shortly by a bigger blast from one of the other nearby volcanoes. Well . . . now we have some really disturbing seismic stuff going on there.

Pay some attention to this.

caw

I always wanted to visit Iceland.

But maybe not any time soon.

Plot Device · Aug 20, 2014

Alessandra Kelley said:
http://www.wired.com/2013/06/local-and-global-impacts-1793-laki-eruption-iceland/

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com...-1783-how-the-laki-eruptions-changed-history/

The 1783-1784 Laki eruption poured out almost fifteen cubic kilometers of basalt, as well as clouds of sulfuric acid that were detected in China.

Between ten and twenty thousand Icelanders died of the "haze famine." Tree ring growth in North America suggests a couple of terrible cold years, and crops failed across Europe.

Widespread famine from those crop failures, by the way, was one of the reasons given for triggering of the French Revolution, five years later.

The only plus-side to this sort of catastrophe is that the brilliant violin maker, Stradivarius, supposedly made his masterful violins with wood from European trees whose rings were so tightly spaced together that the tonal quality of the resulting violins remains superior to any other violins to this day. (One theory, anyway.)

backslashbaby · Aug 20, 2014

efreysson said:
...

According to the morning news, the Bárðarbunga area is seeing earthquakes almost every minute and is being closed off and evacuated.

Exciting, no?

Aaaack! Stock up the basement storm shelter; um, board the windows and buy booze; umm... no, I got nothing for volcanoes

So scary!

robjvargas · Aug 20, 2014

See? Global Warming, no problem!

:e2poke:

Marlys · Aug 20, 2014

Gah. It would be cooler if Mr. Marlys weren't flying back to the US from Finland in about 10 days. I hope if there are flight disruptions they don't affect his return.

efreysson · Aug 20, 2014

Helix said:
Which town was it that was saved from advancing lava by cooling the flow's front with sea water hoses?

That would be the island of Heimaey, back in 1973.

Vince524 said:
The smart ass in me says the volcano is just pissed because of it's name. Eyawhateverthehelljökull.
What the hell kind of name is that?

We really like our compound words. It's actually three words mashed together.

backslashbaby said:
Aaaack! Stock up the basement storm shelter; um, board the windows and buy booze; umm... no, I got nothing for volcanoes So scary!

Meh. Everyone over here is pretty relaxed.

williemeikle · Aug 20, 2014

Vince524 said:
The smart ass in me says the volcano is just pissed because of it's name. Eyawhateverthehelljökull.
What the hell kind of name is that?

I hope everyone in the are stay safe.

Yeah, let's make fun of other people's languages. That's always useful.

Xelebes · Aug 20, 2014

efreysson said:
We really like our compound words. It's actually three words mashed together.

Ait fellicle

Dennis E. Taylor · Aug 20, 2014

Want to talk about going to hell?

First thing I thought was this is good timing for my novel (which is about Yellowstone erupting)

Yep. I'm scum.

Zoombie · Aug 20, 2014

robjvargas said:
See? Global Warming, no problem!

Dang it, you stole my joke!

...though, actually, I wonder if properly timed dispersal of particulates in the atmosphere could buy time for the creation and wide spread adoption of more sustainable forms of energy production and keep the planet's climate from becoming more destabilized.

I kind of doubt it would be easy...I can see it just as easily swinging too far the other way, which is just as bad.

Xelebes · Aug 20, 2014

Zoombie said:
Dang it, you stole my joke!

...though, actually, I wonder if properly timed dispersal of particulates in the atmosphere could buy time for the creation and wide spread adoption of more sustainable forms of energy production and keep the planet's climate from becoming more destabilized.

I kind of doubt it would be easy...I can see it just as easily swinging too far the other way, which is just as bad.

Doesn't quite work that way. Sulphur dioxide is heavier than carbon dioxide and thus settles quicker than carbon dioxide, two to five years versus a hundred to a thousand years.

Alessandra Kelley · Aug 20, 2014

Zoombie said:
Dang it, you stole my joke!

...though, actually, I wonder if properly timed dispersal of particulates in the atmosphere could buy time for the creation and wide spread adoption of more sustainable forms of energy production and keep the planet's climate from becoming more destabilized.

I kind of doubt it would be easy...I can see it just as easily swinging too far the other way, which is just as bad.

I think what's more likely is that if a pollution haze cooled things down for a bit people would say "Ehhhh, it's okay now. No need to rush."

Or even worse, "Didn't I say it was a cycle and things would cool down again? I told you scientists don't know nothin'. Let's slash their funding."

Alessandra Kelley · Aug 20, 2014

Xelebes said:
Doesn't quite work that way. Sulphur dioxide is heavier than carbon dioxide and thus settles quicker than carbon dioxide, two to five years versus a hundred to a thousand years.

I think they reckoned that when the bolide that killed off the dinosaurs hit the Earth in the Gulf of Mexico 65 million years ago, the massive amount of sulfur dioxide released would have rained out of the atmosphere in just a few years, no time at all on a geologic scale, and not much time even on a human scale to ramp up technology to ease pollution.

(There is evidence, though, that what was kicked up was the much more reactive sulfur trioxide, which would have turned the ocean shallows to lemonade in about two days. This also seems to gibe with the badly acid-transformed layer of clay immediately above the impact debris in North American rock beds.)

Zoombie · Aug 20, 2014

Xelebes said:
Doesn't quite work that way. Sulphur dioxide is heavier than carbon dioxide and thus settles quicker than carbon dioxide, two to five years versus a hundred to a thousand years.

Dang...

I guess we'll just have to settle for my original plan of genetically engineering carbon sequestering bacteria...

Iceland volcano threat

socially distancing

Dragon of the Multiverse

Closer than ever

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socially distancing

I'm quite put out.

Stand in the Place Where You Live

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practical experience, FTW

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A woman said to write like a man.

~~~~*~~~~

Resist. Love. Go outside.

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The force is strong in this one.

Delerium ex Ennui

Get it off! It burns!

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