Previously, the eruption of Eyjafjallajokull in Iceland created a huge ash cloud which disrupted air traffic throughout Europe. This resulted in millions of dollars of loss when aircrafts were grounded in numerous countries like Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, Switzerland, the Irish Republic and Croatia.
According to scientists, the volcano eruption appears to be part of a huge buildup of volcanic eruptions in the region for the next few decades. Scientists have constructed a timeline of 205 eruptions in Iceland, spanning the past 1,100 years and found that they occurred in regular intervals. The quiet phase for the past 5 years is coming to an end, marking the start of more volcano eruptions in Iceland for the coming years. There is evidence that the cycle is coming to a peak.
Other geologists have warned of more volcano eruptions from four other volcanoes in Iceland. They are Grimsvotn, Hekla, Askja and Katla. All of them are bigger than Eyjafjallaokull. Katla lies 15 miles east of Eyjafjallaokull. And there is evidence to support that it is near failure (close to eruption). The other volcanoes are also nearing eruption because the snow has been rising on them, suggesting magma movement below.
According to Thor Thordarson, a volcanologist from Edinburg University, the behaviour of the volcanoes is linked to movements in the earth's crust which creates massive subterranean stresses over wide areas.
For Iceland and other countries in Europe, it is probably the best time to step up monitoring of the volcanic activities because the possible amount of loss incurred from another volcano eruption is going to far exceed the costs it takes to monitor the volcanic activity and further research.
Dr Richard Waller, senior lecturer in physical geography at Keele University believes that should Katla erupt, the problem for Iceland would not just be ash clouds. Massive flooding could occur because the crater is filled with ice, more than 2,000ft thick, which will all melt when it erupts.
My take on this entire article is that so many volcanologist and geographical experts have given their take on such matters worldwide. But when will governments and people really begin to start listening to the experts and heed their advice?
As I learnt in Taxation, we should always try to minimize cost now. Money outflow later is always better than later because cashflow is so important to any company, and the board has to appease the shareholders. If the shareholders are unhappy, then the company is not going to do well. A country, is somewhat similar to a company. If the government decided to pour in a huge amount of resources to tackle the problem of volcanic activities, are the citizens happy that the money is being spent in this manner? The citizens are probably going to be happier if the government can utilize the same amount of resources to generate better economic results, compared to researching on volcanic activity.
However, I feel that the above would be more true when there are no threats from the volcanoes in Iceland. Now that the threat is probably imminent, it would probably be the only time that the government and people would start listening to the warnings of scientists, and start taking ownership of the problem.
Having said that, it is such a shame that people would only start listening when a problem exists. Instead we always learnt that we should try to ward off any problem before it occurs.
According to scientists, the volcano eruption appears to be part of a huge buildup of volcanic eruptions in the region for the next few decades. Scientists have constructed a timeline of 205 eruptions in Iceland, spanning the past 1,100 years and found that they occurred in regular intervals. The quiet phase for the past 5 years is coming to an end, marking the start of more volcano eruptions in Iceland for the coming years. There is evidence that the cycle is coming to a peak.
Other geologists have warned of more volcano eruptions from four other volcanoes in Iceland. They are Grimsvotn, Hekla, Askja and Katla. All of them are bigger than Eyjafjallaokull. Katla lies 15 miles east of Eyjafjallaokull. And there is evidence to support that it is near failure (close to eruption). The other volcanoes are also nearing eruption because the snow has been rising on them, suggesting magma movement below.
According to Thor Thordarson, a volcanologist from Edinburg University, the behaviour of the volcanoes is linked to movements in the earth's crust which creates massive subterranean stresses over wide areas.
For Iceland and other countries in Europe, it is probably the best time to step up monitoring of the volcanic activities because the possible amount of loss incurred from another volcano eruption is going to far exceed the costs it takes to monitor the volcanic activity and further research.
Dr Richard Waller, senior lecturer in physical geography at Keele University believes that should Katla erupt, the problem for Iceland would not just be ash clouds. Massive flooding could occur because the crater is filled with ice, more than 2,000ft thick, which will all melt when it erupts.
My take on this entire article is that so many volcanologist and geographical experts have given their take on such matters worldwide. But when will governments and people really begin to start listening to the experts and heed their advice?
As I learnt in Taxation, we should always try to minimize cost now. Money outflow later is always better than later because cashflow is so important to any company, and the board has to appease the shareholders. If the shareholders are unhappy, then the company is not going to do well. A country, is somewhat similar to a company. If the government decided to pour in a huge amount of resources to tackle the problem of volcanic activities, are the citizens happy that the money is being spent in this manner? The citizens are probably going to be happier if the government can utilize the same amount of resources to generate better economic results, compared to researching on volcanic activity.
However, I feel that the above would be more true when there are no threats from the volcanoes in Iceland. Now that the threat is probably imminent, it would probably be the only time that the government and people would start listening to the warnings of scientists, and start taking ownership of the problem.
Having said that, it is such a shame that people would only start listening when a problem exists. Instead we always learnt that we should try to ward off any problem before it occurs.
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