1 Eyjafjallajökull Volcano, Iceland March & April 2010

2 The icecap of the glacier Eyjafjallajökull (meaning 'island mountain glacier') covers a volcano (1,666 metres or 5,466 ft in height) which has erupted relatively frequently since the last Ice Age. The volcano erupted twice in 2010, on 20 March and 15 April. The April eruption caused massive disruption to air traffic across Northern Europe and scientists claimed it was ten to twenty times more powerful than the March event. The most recent eruption before 2010 was from 1821 to 1823, causing a fatal glacial lake outburst flood. A previous eruption was in The crater of the volcano has a diameter of 3–4 kilometres (1.9–2.5 mi) and the glacier covers an area of about 100 square kilometres (39 sq mi). 2

3 Smoke billows from an erupting volcano which seems to be close to the top of the Eyjafjalla glacier on April 14, 2010 near Reykjavik. All London flights, including those from Heathrow, will be suspended from noon (1100 GMT) today due to volcanic ash from Iceland that has already caused almost 300 cancellations here, officials said.

4 An aerial handout photo from the Icelandic Coast Guard shows flood caused by a volcanic eruption at Eyjafjalla Glacier in southern Iceland April 14, The volcanic eruption on Wednesday partially melted a glacier, setting off a major flood that threatened to damage roads and bridges and forcing hundreds to evacuate from a thinly populated area. Picture taken April 14, (REUTERS/Icelandic Coast Guard/Arni Saeberg)

5 A man takes a picture of a road that has been washed away by flood water following the melting of the Eyjafjalla glacier due to the eruption of a volcano on April 14, 2010 near Reykjavik.

6 Tourists gather to watch lava spurt out of the site of a volcanic eruption at the Eyjafjallajökull volcano on March 27, Up to 800 people were evacuated in Iceland early on April 14, 2010 due to a volcano eruption under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in the south of the island, police and geophysicists said.

7 People gather to watch lava flow at the site of a volcanic eruption at the Eyjafjallajökull volcano near the Eyjafjalla glacier on March 27, 2010.

8 Lava spurts out of the site of a volcanic eruption at the Eyjafjallajökull volcano near the Eyjafjalla glacier in Iceland on March 27, 2010.

9 Lava spews out of a mountain on March 21, 2010 in Hvolsvöllur in the region of the Eyjafjalla glacier in Iceland. Note the linear pattern of lava eruption, typical of a constructive margin.

10 Steam and hot gases rise above lava flowing from the Eyjafjallajökull volcano on April 3rd, Original here. Original

11 This image made available by NEODASS/University of Dundee shows the volcanic ash plume from Iceland, top left, to the north of Britain as received by NASA's Terra Satellite at GMT Thursday April 15, 2010.

12 The ash plume as it moves south east towards the UK

13 YouTube Excellent aerial views of the contructive margin (1.24 mins) aerial views of the contructive margin (1.24 mins) lava and ash (3.55 mins) Plume of eruption from air (8.41 mins)

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Nature of the Eruption Lava flows degrees Calcius lava spewed 150m into the air. More than 100 million cubic meters of lava erupted, more than 1000 million cubic meters of tephra erupted. Ash plume reached 11,000m in the air - reached the stratosphere. Distributed by high velocity jet streams between troposphere and stratosphere. Fine grained ash hazard for airplanes (affects systems as turns to glassy substance due to heat of jet engines). Flooding (Glacier melt). In metres cubed per second of flood water. 17

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Social Impacts 10 million airline passengers affected and stranded abroad. 107,000 flights were cancelled over the 8 day travel ban this accounts for 48% of total air traffic. Residents in the volcano shadow were covered in ash and may have evacuated. Roads and bridges also damaged (Iceland has limited road networks) 500 farmers and their families had to be evacuated from the area around the volcano and many of the roads surrounding the volcano were shut down. Ash contaminated local water supplies and farmers near the volcano were warned not to let their livestock drink from the contaminated streams an water sources. High concentrations of fluoride from the ash mixed with river water can have deadly effects particularly in sheep. 19

Economic Impacts Airlines lots up to $200 million each day due to postponed flights. Kenya lost up to $3.5 million as a result of lost exports. 20% of the Kenyan economy is based on the export of green vegetables (beans, sugar-snap peas and okra) and cut flowers to Europe, these are perishable goods and they are transported by plane to keep them fresh but due to the flight ban the products were unsold and destroyed. One million flower stalks were unsold in the first two days. 50,000 farmers were temporarily unemployed. 20

Eurostar and other travel companies flourished - 50,000 extra passengers a day added £7 million to the rail line. Stock market shares in air travel and tourism fell by 4%. Hire car companies increased their prices during the 8 day fly ban. Huge impact on businesses particularly those that rely on air freight to those with workers stranded overseas. Europe in total lost $2.6 billion GDP

Environmental Eruption added 0.15m tones of carbon dioxide each day to the atmosphere but the lack of air travel prevented between m tones from reaching the atmosphere. Phytoplankton in the Atlantic Ocean bloomed as they fed on the iron from the ash falling and therefore this boosted the marine ecosystem. Flooding was caused by the silting up of rivers and the melting of the 150m thick ice cap. 700 people had to be evacuated. Flooding destroyed parts of the main route 1 road. 22

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27 Web links Ash prompts health worries - plume-health-europe/ plume-health-europe/ BBC news - flight disruption, economic impacts, flooding in Iceland and health risks (includes brief clip) And still more (16 April) The Guardian (15 April) The Telegraph (18 April) - an-eyeful-of-Eyjafjallajokull.html an-eyeful-of-Eyjafjallajokull.html 27

28 The Telegraph - ahead-from-icelandic-volcanoes-as-the-world-heats-up-scientists-warn/ ahead-from-icelandic-volcanoes-as-the-world-heats-up-scientists-warn/ Los Angeles Times apr19,0, story apr19,0, story The Guardian (18 April) - witness witness Tourism Industry implications - volcano-eruption volcano-eruption Katla is bigger, and is next? quietens-big-brother-Ketla-set-erupt-warn-experts.htmlhttp:// quietens-big-brother-Ketla-set-erupt-warn-experts.html 28