Thaindian News

Apr 19 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Iceland was first settled in the ninth century by Vikings. It quickly became known as “The land of fire and ice” because of the volcanoes and glaciers. The most active volcano on this land, is called the Hekla. During the Middle Ages, it was called the “Gateway To Hell” because Icelanders believed that souls were dragged below by the volcano. Weather patterns all across Europe were changed in the mid 1780, when nearby Laki volcano erupted killing many with famine and destruction of crops and livestock. In 1159 BC the Hekla erupted and devastated the west coast of Scotland. A sulfuric ash cloud blocked the sun for many years, and acid rain destroyed the countryside. The coastline was believed to be re-shaped by the accompanying tsunami.

One of the fears which scientists had when the Eyjafyallajokulll erupted was that it could set off other eruptions from nearby volcano, which could be cataclysmic. “Nonetheless, there is a one in a million chance of Wednesday’s eruption being the precursor to one of the mega-eruptions that in the past have changed climate, destroyed civilizations and killed thousands.

Thorvaldur Thordarson, expert at the University of Edinburgh says that descending ash can wreck machinery, like hydroelectric dams, and it can make crops in the field and grass being eaten by livestock toxic.

This would require the Eyjafyallajokull to explode on a scale it has never done before or set off one of the larger Icelandic volcanoes like Hekla or Katla. Unlikely, but Thordarson notes that “there are so many volcanoes in Iceland. One can go off any time.” The Karla volcano threatens massive flooding and explosive blasts if it erupts. 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.

This afternoon at around 12:37 EST, it was reported by BNO News that a second volcano, the Hekla, had erupted.” (BNO NEWS) — The Hekla volcano in southern Iceland erupted on Monday afternoon. Live images from the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service showed a huge plume of smoke rising from the volcano.” If these reports has been accurate, the world wide damages could have been very extreme.Fortunately, word is just in that these reports were wrong, and that the camera was pointed at the wrong volcano. It was actually showing footage of the Eyjafjallajokull.