Eyjafjallajokull ash plume. Credit to AP.
Who knew volcanoes could be such a pain? We all know what an annoyance Eyjafjallajokull (say it with me – ay-yah-FYAH-tlah-yer-kuh-duhl) has been to Europeans. Now, new reports fear that a neighbor volcano in Iceland, Katla, could erupt because of the activity. According to the AP, Katla is buried under twice the ice as Eyjafjallajokull, but would be a ten times stronger eruption with more ash and taller plumes – pretty scary considering Eyjafjallajokull is spitting magma chunks the size of cars into the air. The scientists who’ve been watching Katla say it’s not showing any signs of activity yet. But it’s only 12 miles away and has erupted the last three times Eyjafjallajokull has erupted.
But if it does erupt, it doesn’t have to cause the same air traffic nightmare as Eyjafjallajokull did. The WSJ published an article yesterday that describes how Alaskan Airlines prepares for potential ash clouds from Mount St. Helens. The protocol includes mapping clouds to find clean airway channels in which they can fly and shrink-wrapping grounded planes in the case of serious ash clouds. To be fair, Mount St. Helens was only a tenth of the size of Eyjafjallajokull.
Third Degree Byrnes 