Recently there has been a lot of news about the volcanic eruption in Iceland and the havoc that it has had on transportation in Europe, especially air travel. These disruptions have affected both business and personal transportation for passengers and products. However, most of what we hear related from this natural disaster is from outsiders discussing the impact on them. Below is an actual communication between one of Vinpower Digitalâ€™s revered Icelandic customers and how the eruption is seen through their eyes:
First we got, what may be called, a â€œTouristâ€ Volcanic Eruption. It was a nice little eruption that didnâ€™t harm anyone and it was beautiful to look at until it ended. Two days later, on Tuesday morning last week, a new eruption started close by. The first one was between two Glaciers but this one was in the middle of one of them, still the smaller one. Scientists say that itâ€™s 15 to 20 times more powerful than the first one. It caused huge floods because of the melted ice and then thereâ€™s a lot of ash falling down on farmlands and the area east of the volcano. The wind is blowing from the west and the north so we in Reykjavik are still free from this. As you have seen on the news, this has been having a tremendous affect on European Air Traffic.
Now the eruption seems to be slowing down and the ash fall isnâ€™t as much so the air traffic will hopefully get back to normal.
About twenty miles east from this volcano there is another one, â€œKATLAâ€. Itâ€™s in the other Glacier which is much bigger. This volcano is expected to erupt in the nearby future. History shows that it has always followed the smaller volcano that is now erupting. According to Scientists it can be somewhere from a few weeks up to 24 months. KATLA, the volcano, normally erupts every 40â€“80 years. It last erupted in 1918 so itâ€™s overdue. When it happens it will most likely be much bigger with much worse consequences, both locally and for Europe. The say it can even affect the whole planetâ€™s weather system.