Eyjafjallajokull, Beautiful Tragedy: Ash Shuts Down Airports
April 16th, 2010 - 2:53 am ICT by Angela Kaye Mason 
Apr 15 (THAINDIAN NEWS) In a series of photos posted on The Washington Post website the beauty and devastation of Eyjafjallajokull is displayed. A huge cloud of volcanic ash streaming out from Iceland is hovering over Northern Europe, causing hundreds of thousands of airline passengers to be stranded in airports, as flights continue to be canceled by authorities.
According to Sally Sennert, a geologist at the Smithsonian Institute, the last time the volcano erupted, it lasted for over a year, from December of 1821, until January of 1823. “This seems similar to what’s happening now,” she says. The volcanic eruption is sending tiny jagged shreds of rock, minerals, and volcanic glass which is no bigger than sand and silt, spewing into the atmosphere. These particles can be blown as far as tens of thousands of miles, and cause costly and life threatening dangers to airplanes which may fly into the cloud, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. There are also two kinds of acid in these clouds. This danger to aircraft can be as far away as 3000 miles from the volcano itself.
Jonathan Dean, spokesman for Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, said British Airways flights to and from London’s Heathrow Airport scheduled for Thursday evening have been canceled. Several airports are issuing vouchers for those whose flights were canceled by the volcanic ash. American Airlines, British Airways, Delta, Lufthansa, SAS, United and U.S. Airways were among those airlines.
“Volcanic ash is a serious problem for aircraft, and there are few historical precedents here,” said NATS spokeswoman Taylor Samuelson. “It’s nothing we’re going to take any risks on.” She added: “No one knows when the ash is going to go. The volcano is still going.” And this is not the worst of the problem: If lava flowing from Eyjafjallajokull melts the glaciers that hold down the top of nearby Volcano, Katla, then Katla could also erupt. That potential occurrence could send the entire world, even the United States, into a deep freeze, according to Science Fair and USA Today. “There’s no telling how long the eruptions could last,” says Sennert about the Eyjafjallajokull volcano.”These explosions could go on for some time.”
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- Iceland volcano ash could reach Britain: Report (Lead, changing dateline) - May 23, 2011
- Icelandic volcanic ash will ground UK for days to come - Apr 18, 2010
- Volcanic Ash: Stranded Passengers Get Good News - Apr 19, 2010
- India-Europe flights unaffected as of now (Lead) - May 25, 2011
- Eurocontrol says about 500 European flights cancelled due to volcanic ash cloud on Monday - May 10, 2010
- Indian carriers prepare to fly to Europe - Apr 21, 2010
- Lufthansa And Other Operators Suspend Operations Due To Volcanic Ash - Apr 16, 2010
- Volcanic ash cloud damaging airlines more than 9/11: Experts - Apr 20, 2010
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