Eyjafjallajökull Eruption – UPDATE 19 Apr 2010

A Time to Reorganize!

Another Massive Plume of Volcanic Ash from Eyjafjallajökull Eruption Invades UK Airspace

You could have a situation in the not-too-distant future whereby 2, 3, 4, 6 even 8 volcanoes located  ‘inconveniently’ would erupt simultaneously, ejecting ash and fumes into atmosphere unabatedly.

Eyjafjallajökull Eruption Status:

• Eyjafjallajökull is currently erupting with the ash plume reaching a height of about 7.5 to 10km
• Two large plumes of ash are drifting toward Europe

Latest Image of eruption at  Eyjafjallajökull. Source: Frettabladid, Island. Image may be subject to copyright.

Large amounts of volcanic ash fell overnight in a vast area from Ásólfsskáli to Sólheimajökull, Iceland, the country’s Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management reported. “Work is in progress to close off National route 1(Suðurlandsvegur) from Markarfljótsbrú as far as Sólheimajökull. Visibility has been at around 400 to 500m, reducing to 100m in some areas. This morning there were reports from Þorvaldseyri that there was almost no visibility at all.”

“From midnight last night steady northerly winds blew over the eruption, which according to information from the Icelandic Met Office, should continue today and therefore present the possibility of ash fall in the area under the glacier and even over Vestmannaeyjar.” The report said.

In Europe: UK

UK airspace will remain  closed until 1:00BST (00:00UTC) on Tuesday April 20, 2010, due to the ongoing volcanic activity in Iceland.

“The Eyjafjallajökull volcano is still erupting and weather patterns continue to blow volcanic ash towards the UK. Ongoing observations have detected dust in the atmosphere and on the ground. On Sunday afternoon a research aircraft observed volcanic ash over the UK as far south as southern England. UK Met Office said.

Satellite image of ash plume at 0745 UTC on Monday 19 April 2010 – Image below is a false color composite.

Shades of orange represent the volcanic ash in the atmosphere. © Copyright EUMETSAT/Met Office. Click image to enlarge

IR Satellite image of the UK and Ireland. © Copyright EUMETSAT/Met Office.  Click image to enlarge.

The above is an illustration of volcanic ash dispersion up to 20,000 ft, issued at 7 am on 19 April. Advisory charts are issued every six hours, for up to 18 hours ahead, by the Volcanic Ash Advisory Center.

Icelandic volcano – Air ash concentration graphics – 18 April 2010 – Different colors represent different concentration rates with red high and blue low. Exact concentrations are not given because they are dependent on the amount of material emitted from the volcano. Interpretation of the actual concentration values requires reliable knowledge of the rate at which the material is erupted. Source: UK Met Office

Articles by Iceland Review (English)

• Ash Fall Forecast for Iceland’s Capital
• Ways Discussed to Lift Iceland Volcano Flight Ban
• Flight Ban Impacts Iceland’s Fishing Industry
• Will the Winds Turn? Driving in the Dust

More Photos

• Photos from MBL-Is: How to fake a Moon footprint:
• Ragnar Th. Sigurdsson
• Eyjafjallajökull Eruption Links Page [Links to Fire-Earth entries on Eyjafjallajökull as well as useful outside sources]
• List of airport disruption across Europe

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8 in 10 Americans do not trust the U.S. government

Submitted by a reader

Highest Rate of Distrust in Government

About 80 percent of Americans say they do not trust the U.S. government to do the right thing

Only one fifth  of Americans say they trust the government “just about always” or “most of the time,” a Pew Research Center survey said.

The distrust of the government is at an all-time record since a previous high of 73 percent during the Eisenhower administration in 1958, when the issue of “trust” was first included in a national survey, Pew Research said.

What is causing the huge distrust in the government? Pew cites economic uncertainty, overwhelming discontent with Congress, distrust of the elected officials among other reasons for to the current wave of public distrust.

Only about 25 percent of the 5,000 people who were surveyed said they thought the Congress was functioning at some level, the lowest rate of confidence in a quarter o a century, Pew said.

Mr Obama will probably be remembered as the President who fired the final shot that killed America!

Related Links:

• Pew Research Center
• US Govt

• Porky Pies President
• Obsessed with Obama’s McWhitehouse?
• The US Mood: Gloomy
• The Slick “O”
• World cannot survive without a revolution
• 10 Biggest Threats to the US National Security
• 13 things you should know before departing prematurely!

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Eyjafjallajökull Volcano Cauldron – Satellite Images

Eyjafjallajökull Volcano Cauldron and Ash Plume  Seen in NASA Satellite Images

Visible (left) and infrared (right) images of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano, acquired April 17, 2010, from the Hyperion instrument onboard NASA’s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) spacecraft. Image credit: NASA/JPL/EO-1 Mission/GSFC/Ashley Davies

• Larger view of visible image JPG (500Kb)
• Larger view of infrared image JPG (1Mb)

In the left-hand image, created from visible wavelengths, new black ash deposits are visible on the ground, as well as nearby brilliant unsullied ice and snow and the volcano’s brown, billowing plume. The plume’s dark color reflects its large ash content. These fine particles of pulverized rock are carried high into the atmosphere, where they create a hazard for aviation and are carried long distances by the prevailing winds.

In contrast, the false-color, infrared image at the right reveals the intense thermal emissions (at least 60 megawatts, or 60 million watts) emanating from the vent at the base of the massive plume. This thermal emission, equivalent to the energy consumption of 60,000 homes, represents only a small proportion of the total energy being released by the volcano as its molten lava interacts violently with ice and water. Each image covers an area measuring 7.7 kilometers (4.8 miles) wide, and has a resolution of 30 meters (98 feet) per pixel. The vertical direction is north-northeast. Images and Caption: NASA [Edited for brevity.]

Related Links:

Eyjafjallajökull Eruption – Satellite Images
Eyjafjallajökull Eruption – UPDATE Apr 18 [Other links to Eyjafjallajökull are found on this page]

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Lift Volcanic Ash Flight Ban—Multinationals

Sacrificing Sanity for Money

Eyjafjallajökull Eruption Status:

• Currently erupting with the ash plume reaching a height of about 7.5km
• A large pocket of ash is drifting toward Europe

Volcanic Ash Advisory from London Met Office – Issued graphics – Received at 06:36GMT on 19 April 2010

Above is an illustration of volcanic ash dispersion up to 20,000 ft, issued at 7 pm on 18 April. Advisory charts are issued every six hours, for up to 18 hours ahead, by the Volcanic Ash Advisory Center.

Latest updates and advisories from UK Met Office –

Last updated: 20:26GMT on Sunday, 18 April 2010

… because of the worsening volcanic activity UK airspace has now been closed until 7am Monday.

The Eyjafjallajökull volcano is still erupting and weather patterns continue to blow volcanic ash towards the UK. Over the weekend, Met Office observations have detected dust in the atmosphere and on the ground. A research aircraft has recently encountered dust during its flight, albeit in fairly low concentrations

Decisions on flights and airline movement is controlled by National Air Traffic Services (NATS).

We will continue to produce forecasts of the ash cloud and will assess the impact into the week in consultations with CAA and NATS.

“We’re losing money, besides our test flights didn’t fall out of the sky.”

Europe’s air industry as well as a large number of international corporation have demanded an urgent removal of flight bans imposed because of ash from Eyjafjallajökull volcano.

Siding with the corporate paymasters, EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas is on record as saying that the “unprecedented situation” was “not sustainable” and that European authorities were working to find a solution.

“We cannot just wait until this ash cloud dissipates,” Siim Kallas was reported as saying.

Airspaces in 21 European countries were closed or partially closed as of posting.

According to the International Airports Council, ACI, about 313 airports had been completely or partially shut down because of the no-fly ban with an international  backlog of 63,000 canceled flights representing just under 7 million air travelers [Fir earth estimates are 78,000 flight and 14 million passengers.]

The airports are hit by a double whammy because they no longer just places where planes take off and land; they are colossal shopping malls, targeting the air travelers. On a per passenger basis, the airports are making more money than the airlines. [In case you ever wondered why you have to go to the airport 3-6 hours before your flight and walk 12 km to board the plane…]

Why is volcanic ash do dangerous?

Volcanic ash is composed of small tephra, or tiny bits of pulverized glass and rock that are created by volcanic eruptions. The particles are usually accompanied by several gases including sulfur dioxide (SO2), which is mixed with water in the air and converted into droplets of sulfuric acid and other substances that are harmful to the plane. Volcanic ash is potentially deadly to aircraft and their passengers. It poses three types of danger to aircraft by way of:

• Clogging the engine and causing engine failure
  • Clogging the fuel and cooling systems
  • Melting in the hot parts of the engine, and fusing on engine components thereby causing loss of engine thrust that could lead into a flame out, shutting down the engine
  • Breaking the blades and other sensitive components inside the turbine
• Causing physical damage to various parts of the plane including abrasion of engine parts, the airframe, as well as control and steering mechanism
• Reducing visibility

What about the test flights?

Dutch and German airlines as well as British Airways have carried out “test flight” within the no-fly zone at altitudes of about 30,000ft (9.1km) on Saturday and Sunday, apparently without any visible damage to the planes.

The most obvious dangers of such recklessness are that the concentration of airborne ash particles is neither uniform, nor constant. The impact of ash on the plane may vary depending on several factors including continued activity at the volcano, which produces more ash as the time goes by, wind pasterns and others.

High concentrations of ash may exists in air pockets that the previous test flights avoided, or changing wind patterns could increase the concentration of ash in an air route within minutes.

Airlines are desperate because, in addition to losing money for each flight canceled [they claim the ban is costing them $200million each day,] their stock values are taking a nosedive, too. In fact some of the major carriers could lose by as much as 10 percent of their share values by Tuesday.

Why Airlines Might Prefer Crashing their Planes…

Do airlines prefer crashing their planes, rather than having them idle on the airport tarmacs? The arithmetic is simple: If an airline crashes a plane, insurance will pay.  If the planes sits on the tarmac, they lose money.

Countries that have been impacted

The Airspace in the following countries are fully closed:
Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Holland, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Switzerland, UK

Airspace partially closed:
Italy (northern airspace closed until Monday); Norway (2 -3 airports closed); Bulgaria (only a few airports are open); Poland (half dozen airports, including Warsaw, are open); Sweden (northern airports are now open); France (southern airports have now opened)

NO airspace restriction:
Greece, Lithuania, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine

Carriers that have canceled flights to Europe on Monday:

China Airlines of Taiwan, Cathay Pacific,  Japan Airlines, Qantas, Air New Zealand, Thai Airways and Korean Air.

Related Links:

• Eyjafjallajökull Eruption – UPDATE Apr 18

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