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Scientists studying ice cores packing in some 60,000 years of history have found signs of thousands of volcanic eruptions across that time, stretching back to the last Ice Age – with 25 of the eruptions larger than anything Earth has seen in the last 2,500 years. Researchers excavated the cores near both poles: in Antarctica (where 737 eruptions were logged) and Greenland (where 1,113 eruptions were found). A total of 85 eruptions were large enough to leave evidence behind at both poles. That evidence takes the form of sulfuric acid deposits left behind by the eruptions. It gives researchers clues...

A region of Iceland is erupting for the first time in 800 years, raising concern of disruptions in air travel for centuries to come. The Guardian of London reported that since Jan. 21, the Reykjanes peninsula southwest of Iceland's capital, Reykjavik, has experienced more than 8,000 earthquakes. About 10 centimeters of land has risen due to magma intrusions underground, the paper said. "It seems that after being relatively inactive for many centuries, this region is waking up," Lancaster University volcanologist Dave McGarvie told the Guardian. The area is fed by five volcanic systems, the Guardian said, "which seem to come...

Britain's airspace was closed under false pretences, with satellite images revealing there was no doomsday volcanic ash cloud over the entire country. Skies fell quiet for six days, leaving as many as 500,000 Britons stranded overseas and costing airlines hundreds of millions of pounds. Estimates put the number of Britons still stuck abroad at 35,000. However, new evidence shows there was no all-encompassing cloud and, where dust was present, it was often so thin that it posed no risk. The satellite images demonstrate that the skies were largely clear, which will not surprise the millions who enjoyed the fine, hot...

Ash and Lightning Above an Icelandic Volcano Credit & Copyright: Marco Fulle (Stromboli Online) Explanation: Why did the recent volcanic eruption in Iceland create so much ash? Although the large ash plume was not unparalleled in its abundance, its location was particularly noticeable because it drifted across such well populated areas. The Eyjafjallajökull volcano in southern Iceland began erupting on March 20, with a second eruption starting under the center of small glacier on April 14. Neither eruption was unusually powerful. The second eruption, however, melted a large amount of glacial ice which then cooled and fragmented lava into...

Explanation: Why did a picturesque 2010 volcanic eruption in Iceland create so much ash? Although the large ash plume was not unparalleled in its abundance, its location was particularly noticeable because it drifted across such well-populated areas. The Eyjafjallajökull volcano in southern Iceland began erupting on 2010 March 20, with a second eruption starting under the center of a small glacier on 2010 April 14. Neither eruption was unusually powerful. The second eruption, however, melted a large amount of glacial ice which then cooled and fragmented lava into gritty glass particles that were carried up with the rising volcanic plume....

Explanation: Why did the picturesque 2010 volcanic eruption in Iceland create so much ash? Although the large ash plume was not unparalleled in its abundance, its location was particularly noticeable because it drifted across such well-populated areas. The Eyjafjallajökull volcano in southern Iceland began erupting on 2010 March 20, with a second eruption starting under the center of a small glacier on 2010 April 14. Neither eruption was unusually powerful. The second eruption, however, melted a large amount of glacial ice which then cooled and fragmented lava into gritty glass particles that were carried up with the rising volcanic plume....

Eyjafjallajökull began erupting on March 20, but few people other than volcanologists and Icelanders took notice at first. For weeks, all it did was spurt lava gently out of an exposed ridge. On April 14, though, the eruption suddenly shifted a few kilometers west -- no longer on open land, but beneath an ice cap. Just as happened at Sveifluháls, magma met ice and turned it to steam, throwing ash into the stratosphere. European airline flights shut down for days over worries about how the ash might affect jet engines. What a difference a little ice makes. Had the second...

<p>A stunning new video of Iceland's rumbling, smoking volcano shows rainbow-like shockwaves belching from the crater like snakes from a can of nuts.</p> <p>A stunning new video of Iceland's rumbling, smoking volcano Eyjafjallajokull shows rainbow-like shockwaves belching from the crater like snakes from a can of nuts.</p>

Awesome pics of Mother Nature

... As we have learned, these gases form an invisible barrier that, like a greenhouse's glass ceiling, keeps reflected heat of the sun from escaping our atmosphere. The denser that gaseous barrier grows, the hotter things get and the faster glaciers melt. As they flow off the land, we are warned, seas rise. Yet something else is lately worrying geologists: the likelihood that the Earth's crust, relieved of so much formidable weight of ice borne for many thousands of years, has begun to stretch and rebound.

Yesterday WUWT reported on the inaccurate #1 environmental story at Guardian. The Guardian article originally read :The volcanic eruption has released carbon dioxide, but the amount is dwarfed by the savings. Based on readings taken by scientists during the first phase ofEyjafjallajokull activity last month, the website Information is Beautiful calculated the volcano has emitted about 15,000 tonnes of CO2 each day.After their article was written, more accurate information spread across the web – The Guardian numbers were off by more than an order of magnitude :Experts said on Monday that the volcano in Iceland is emitting 150,000 to 300,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2)...

As ash from Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano continued to keep European airspace shut down over the weekend, affecting millions of travelers around the world, some government agencies and airlines clashed over the flight bans. Some restricted airspace is now beginning to open up and some limited flights are being allowed now as airlines are pushing for the ability to judge safety conditions for themselves. The volcano continues to rumble and hurl ash skyward, if at a slightly diminished rate now, as the dispersing ash plume has dropped closer to the ground, and the World Health Organization has issued a health warning...

Here's a video that shows you how to pronounce the name of the Iceland Volcano (Mt. Eyjafjallajökull). The video also shows efforts by newscasters to pronounce the name of the Volcano that has brought European air travel to a standstill.

Amazing New Eruption Pics! We took a ride... 18.4.2010 Words by Haukur S Magnússon Grapevine's dedicated team of eruption enthusiasts just returned from alengthy sojourn down to the explosive area down south. Some high-levelconnections enabled them to travel closer to the action than most - andthey shot many, many photos. We will be posting more visual documentation (hopefully some video, too), as well as a story of the trip later today, but for now you should feast on these awesome pics by Grapevine staff photographer Julia Staples. "The ash cloud looms" "This just looks really weird and crazy right...

An Armada of Royal Navy ships is poised to rescue Britons stranded by the aviation shutdown. The dramatic operation would carry thousands of families home from Channel ports in a rerun of the 1940 Dunkirk evacuation. Security Minister Lord West said commercial ships and amphibious landing craft could also be drafted into service.

The Government indicated tonight that the Royal Navy could be used to ferry passengers back to Britain, as the ban on UK flights was extended until at least 7pm tomorrow. The announcements came on the day that international airlines and pilots demanded a relaxation of the no-fly zone which has grounded most flights across northern Europe for the past four days. Forecasters have warned that the cloud of ash from the Eyjafjallajökull volcano, in southern Iceland, could remain over Britain until at least the end of next week. The International Air Transport Association has warned that airlines will lose at...

AMSTERDAM – Major airlines that sent test flights into European air space found no damage Sunday from the volcanic ash that has paralyzed aviation over the continent, raising pressure on governments to ease restrictions that have thrown global travel and commerce into chaos. Is it safe to fly yet? Airline officials and some pilots say the passengerless test flights show that it is. Meteorologists warn that the skies over Europe remain unstable from an Icelandic volcano that continues to spew ash capable of knocking out jet engines. European Union officials said air traffic could return to half its normal level...

In Europe, the volcanic ash danger travels at high altitudes, but for Iceland's farmers the problem is very much on the ground. Farmers across the region where the volcano erupted this week under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier have been scrambling to protect their herds from inhaling or ingesting the ash, which can cause internal bleeding, long-term bone damage and teeth loss. Near Skogar, south of the volcano, the ash blew down from the mountain, blotting out the sunlight and covering everything - pastures, animals and humans - in a thick, gray paste.

The worry now is that the Eyjafjallajokull volcano may cause the Katla volcano to erupt. Scientists fear that a Katla eruption would be a much larger and much more dangerous eruption than Eyjafjallajokull was. The Katla volcano is sitting on a glacier that has much ice covering.