Eyjafjallajokull Volcano

[Purron]

I think someone should come up with a new name that most folks can pronounce. After all, this volcano has impacted the world in a major way. Because of this event, DH and I cancelled our trip to Italy but this is minor in comparison to what many others have and will go through.

Perhaps it should be named after a famous figure who shook up the world. Volcano Elvis anyone? Other ideas?

 

[REWahoo]

I'm certain the thousands stranded on both sides of the pond, the airlines, and everyone else inconvenienced by the eruption call it "The Effing Volcano" ...

 

[W2R]

I think someone should come up with a new name that most folks can pronounce. After all, this volcano has impacted the world in a major way. Because of this event, DH and I cancelled our trip to Italy but this is minor in comparison to what many others have and will go through.

Perhaps it should be named after a famous figure who shook up the world. Volcano Elvis anyone? Other ideas?

A hunk-a hunk-a burnin' love? I think Volcano Elvis is perfect!

 

[bbbamI]

How about Hate-Ash-Bury......

 

[DblDoc]

If its bigger sister Katla blows we may have more than travel disruptions to worry about:

I"When Katla went off in the 1700s, the USA suffered a very cold winter," says Gary Hufford, a scientist with the Alaska Region of the National Weather Service. "The Mississippi River froze just north of New Orleans, and the East Coast, especially New England, had an extremely cold winter. Depending on a new eruption, Katla could cause some serious weather changes.".

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2010-04-19-1Avolcano19_CV_N.htm

DD

 

[Leonidas]

If its bigger sister Katla blows we may have more than travel disruptions to worry about:



http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2010-04-19-1Avolcano19_CV_N.htm

DD

Hmmm. Someone must have misspoke, or was misquoted, because that quote has been removed and the story changed to read that it was a different volcano, Laki.

Iceland's Laki volcano erupted in 1783, freeing gases that turned into smog. The smog floated across the Jet Stream, changing weather patterns. Many died from gas poisoning in the British Isles. Crop production fell in western Europe. Famine spread. Some even linked the eruption, which helped fuel famine, to the French Revolution. Painters in the 18th century illustrated fiery sunsets in their works.

The winter of 1784 was also one of the longest and coldest on record in North America. New England reported a record stretch of below-zero temperatures and New Jersey reported record snow accumulation. The Mississippi River also reportedly froze in New Orleans.

Froze the Mississippi at NOLA? That's some wicked cold this far South.

The inclusion of death and destruction quotes like that, even corrected for the correct volcano, is too typical of what goes on in much of the media. "It's the end of the world!" Okay, what am I supposed to do with that bit of information? Meh. And apparently this sort of thing is not all unheard of. I loved the references to 1816 as "eighteen hundred and froze to death", or "the year without a summer", caused by the eruption of Mount Tambora. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_Without_a_Summer

How many more times will our imminent demise be predicted by some "journalist" looking for a juicy quote?

At least the current version has a more responsible quote from a different scientist.

"These are Hollywood-sort of scenarios but possible," said Colin Macpherson, a geologist with the University of Durham. "As the melt rises, it's a little like taking a cork out of a champagne bottle."

The article does provide one very useful bit of info, how to pronounce Eyjafjallajokull (AYA-feeyapla-yurkul)!

 

[Purron]

How about Hate-Ash-Bury......

 

[REWahoo]

Hmmm. Someone must have misspoke, or was misquoted, because that quote has been removed and the story changed to read that it was a different volcano, Laki.

? When I click on the link I get an article with these two lead paragraphs:

REYKJAVIK, Iceland — Blasts of lava and ash shot out of a volcano in southern Iceland on Monday and small tremors rocked the ground, a surge in activity that raised fears of a larger explosion at the nearby Katla volcano.


Scientists say history has proven that when the Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupts, Katla follows — the only question is how soon. And Katla, located under the massive Myrdalsjokull icecap, threatens disastrous flooding and explosive blasts when it blows.

 

[Leonidas]

? When I click on the link I get an article with these two lead paragraphs:

Same here, but the Gary Hufford quote, blaming Katla for blotting out the sun and freezing the big muddy, has been removed. It now refers to Laki, a volcano that does not historically blow up in conjunction with Eyjafjallajokull. Which, since that contradicts the quote from the version when DblDoc copied it, makes me believe they corrected it. Of course the doom and gloom stayed.

If you google the quote from Hufford you can find older versions of the story with the quote still there, but the current version at USA Today does not mention Hufford, and show the same basic information but the references are all to Laki.

To me it appears that either the author of the story or Gary Hufford got the facts wrong, and much of the story is based on the potential effects of a volcano that is not even involved. I'm just commenting on what seems to be a common occurrence in the media these days - to look for the worst case scenario in everything and anything just to get somebody to buy a newspaper or stay tuned for the news.

And, on an interesting note, while googling the phrase, I found today's winner for "The World is Doomed" spokesperson contest.

Let me restate, there is a small but very very real chance that this volcano could destroy global civilization. I’m not being alarmist, I’m someone with a background in both volcanology and history, and this is the scariest eruption of my life. Yes, the 2012 people might be wrong, the end as we know it may have arrived 2 years early. A...A few years from now a third of the human race could be dead, and the survivors could be living lives of struggle and hunger and hardship that the world hasn’t seen since the Dark Ages.

http://unitedcats.wordpress.com/2010/04/16/is-eyjafjallajokull-the-end-of-the-world/

Edit to add: There is a current story at USA Today that still has Hufford's quote. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2010-04-19-1Avolcano19_CV_N.htm. But it's still wrong information. Katla did erupt twice in the 1700s (1721 and 1755), but was not the cause of the 1784 weather disruptions that are described in the quote attributed to Hufford. Katla is a badass volcano - apparently much more dangerous than Eyjafjallajokull - but it's last eruption that was phenomenal was 12,000 years ago. If it blows it will probably add to the troubles for the airline industry, but I'm not going to worry about the end of the civilization. As if there was a damn thing I could do about it.

 

[REWahoo]

Of course the doom and gloom stayed.

Whaddya bet Paisley Dodds and Gudjon Helgason are market bears...

 

[DblDoc]

The tone of the article didn't seem "end of the world" to me. Note it was written before the latest eruption of Eyjafjallajokull and failed to mention anything about air travel disruptions focusing instead on the potential for localized destruction as well as wider spread crop damage and weather changes.

DD

 

[Nords]

I remember that Mt. Pinatubo's June 1991 eruption led to a season of spectacular Pacific sunsets. But I don't recall whether it significantly affected that winter's weather.

So does this eruption mean that we can claim victory over global warming?

 

[Westernskies]

So does this eruption mean that we can claim victory over global warming?

...an inconvenient truth?

 

[Leonidas]

The tone of the article didn't seem "end of the world" to me. Note it was written before the latest eruption of Eyjafjallajokull and failed to mention anything about air travel disruptions focusing instead on the potential for localized destruction as well as wider spread crop damage and weather changes.

This seems pretty dire to me.

An eruption at the Katla volcano could be disastrous, however — both for Iceland and other nations... Many died from gas poisoning in the British Isles. Crop production fell in western Europe. Famine spread. Some even linked the eruption, which helped fuel famine, to the French Revolution.

The real disaster for me is the probable delay in some merchandise I ordered from Sweden on Sunday.

 

[REWahoo]

I think someone should come up with a new name that most folks can pronounce.

CNN is saying the US military, who comes up with a name for all major operations, officially refers to it as "E15" - shorthand for the 16 letters in the volcano's name.

 

[Zathras]

I remember that Mt. Pinatubo's June 1991 eruption led to a season of spectacular Pacific sunsets. But I don't recall whether it significantly affected that winter's weather.

So does this eruption mean that we can claim victory over global warming?

It is pretty amazing how much influence these volcanoes can have. If enough ash gets thrown high enough in the atmosphere it can lower the global average temp a degree or degree and a half for the following year.
So yes, you can claim a temporary victory, but then things go back to normal within a year or two.

 

[FinanceDude]

So does this eruption mean that we can claim victory over global warming?

I have an open invitation for Al Gore to come visit me in Wisconsin during winter so I can throw him in a snowbank...........so far he has declined...........

 

[DblDoc]

I remember that Mt. Pinatubo's June 1991 eruption led to a season of spectacular Pacific sunsets. But I don't recall whether it significantly affected that winter's weather.

From the above article:

Painters in the 18th century illustrated fiery sunsets in their works.

We had some good sunsets after St Helens in the PNW. We also get some good ones with large forest fires

DD

 

[Gumby]

It is pretty amazing how much influence these volcanoes can have. If enough ash gets thrown high enough in the atmosphere it can lower the global average temp a degree or degree and a half for the following year.
So yes, you can claim a temporary victory, but then things go back to normal within a year or two.

It appears that Pinatubo reduced temperatures by 0.5 deg. C over a two year period, after which they returned to normal.

NASA GISS: Science Briefs: Pinatubo Climate Investigation

 

[Meadbh]

If its bigger sister Katla blows we may have more than travel disruptions to worry about:

"When Katla went off in the 1700s, the USA suffered a very cold winter," says Gary Hufford, a scientist with the Alaska Region of the National Weather Service. "The Mississippi River froze just north of New Orleans, and the East Coast, especially New England, had an extremely cold winter. Depending on a new eruption, Katla could cause some serious weather changes."

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2010-04-19-1Avolcano19_CV_N.htm

DD

Well, if that happens, oil stocks will do well......

 

[Purron]

CNN is saying the US military, who comes up with a name for all major operations, officially refers to it as "E15" - shorthand for the 16 letters in the volcano's name.

The military always does a splendid job at coming up with acronyms. In this spirit, I offer the following: "Elvis11". Or perhaps "The Big E".