Volcanic Ash Heading Towards North America

chocomilko writes "St. John's International Airport, the easternmost airport in Canada, has begun canceling flights due to worries of ash from Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano, leaving travelers stranded after the weekend's Juno awards festival. Early reports stated that there was a 30% chance ash would reach the island by early Monday; Air Canada has issued an all-day travel advisory. A thick blanket of fog currently covering the city isn't helping matters, either."

Comments

Affects on Europe

[Celt]

Ireland's airspace as well as Englands, France, Germany, Finland etc all closed at present and has been since before the weekend, lots of people stuck in other countrys unable to get home and are trying any means available to try and get home. US/Canada will really feel it if the same thing happens. ....and people think we're not all connected in the world :)

Re:Affects on Europe

[ddxexex]

Except the US's train system is nowhere as good as Europe's ... so this is going to be worse for the US if it reaches us.

Its going to get much worse...

[antonyb]

Looks like Katla's getting ready to blow too

http://scienceray.com/earth-sciences/locals-believe-katla-volcano-in-iceland-near-eyjafjallajokull-will-erupt-in-seven-days/

ant

Re:Its going to get much worse...

[Anonymous Coward]

There's no evidence in that article other than historical patterns. As far as I've been able to determine from numerous sources, there is no sign of increased earthquake activity or inflation of the mountain at Katla yet (due to injection of magma at depth beneath it), and those processes will precede any significant eruption there just as it did at Eyjafjallajokull. It will not be a surprise. There's an extensive seismometer, GPS, and tiltmeter network around both these mountains (Eyjafjallajokull and Katla), so there will be at least a couple of days notice if Katla starts to stir. Look, here's a report from a few weeks before the Eyjafjallajokull eruption started (back in March). It's badly translated by Google Translate, but look at the clump of earthquakes around Eyjafjallajokull in the map (the peak on the left). Katla is the glacier covered peak on the right (labeled Myrdalsjokull -- the volcanic caldera of Katla is the circle with tick marks) -- not much going on back then. Back in March it was hard to tell if this earthquake spike was a sign an eruption was actually about to occur (sometimes you get magma moving around but never making it to the surface), but a similar spike in earthquakes beneath Katla will almost certainly occur there beforehand, and if it occurs you can be 100% sure that it will show up in the news, because people will start being evacuated from around that peak too. If you look at Iceland earthquake maps for the last week, or this one for the last 48 hours using Google Earth (you can also download a KML file), you can see most of them continue to be under Eyjafjallajokull and not under Katla.

So, yes, genuine cause for concern because of historical patterns and because Katla is a much larger and more explosive volcano historically (Ejafjallajokull's eruptions have a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 1, but Katla has had VEI up to 4, and it's a log scale), but nothing specific YET that suggests it is becoming active. Watch the news and we'll see.

Who laughed?

[AnonymousClown]

I didn't laugh. I was actually a little envious because you Europeans can get on a train and get home - if home is on the continent.

If we in the US have this problem, it's means renting a car to get home and all the hassles with dealing with that - our passenger rail is a complete joke outside of the North East corridor.

Re:Who laughed?

[jackbird]

I take it you've never taken I-95 from DC to Boston.

You're kidding, right?

[Taagehornet]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_Flight_9

Re:I'm Tired of Living in Harmony with Nature

[Pharmboy]

Even the comments for that link indicate that others think it is bogus, as it doesn't account for methane (a MAJOR greenhouse gas that volcanos emit) and other gases, and it has already been corrected many times. While interesting, you would have to be insane to use that data for anything important, like all Slashdot links.

Re:Maple Leaf = North America?

[rotide]

Just an FYI, North America is _not_ only the United States nor does it only mean Canada, Mexico, etc. Whatever you think the title of the story should have been, it appears there is a threat of ash to North America and thus using any North American flag, especially the flag of the first country to potentially be disrupted, seems appropriate.

News Flash(es)

[TrisexualPuppy]

Here's a good, up-to-date list of eruptions in 2010. Updated fairly frequently, so it should give travelers a little insight before it hits the main media.

Re:News Flash(es)

[Bearhouse]

Actually, that link won't help. The ash from an eruption can travel great distances, and the direction changes with the wind.
You're better of consulting your local http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcanic_Ash_Advisory_Centre

Re:Jet stream doesn't go that way.

[actionbastard]

Generally, yes. However, you need to look at this: http://wxmaps.org/pix/NHanim.html, to understand why it's possible for this to occur.

Re:SIGH

[Anonymous Coward]

You know, this thread starting with:

Finally. All Canucks & Americans who laughed at us Europeans now get to experience how nice it is: no hassle, quiet skies, no contrails, stay-at-home and work -- or be stranded in interesting cities at your bosses' expenses !

Maybe that's related, somehow?

Re:SIGH

[rufey]

Flying through dense enough ash clouds can cause significant problems. British Airways flight 9 from London to New Zealand is just one example.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_Flight_9

And it can affect more than just the engines. In the above cited incident, the windscreen was sandblasted to the point that it was nearly impossible to see out through it.