New volcanic Ash Cloud Threatens Attempts To Reopen UK Airspace

The Guardian (UK) ^ | 4-19-2010 | Jonathan Haynes

[blam]

New volcanic Ash Cloud Threatens Attempts To Reopen UK Airspace

• Flight ban to stay in place for 'main London airports'
• Nats says volcano eruption in Iceland has strengthened
• Hopes remain to open Scottish and some English airspace

James Meikle, Dan Milmo and Jonathan Haynes guardian.co.uk
Monday 19 April 2010 22.26 BST

A gradual reopening of UK airspace is in jeopardy tonight after a new cloud of volcanic ash began heading for the UK.

Earlier air traffic controllers had said relaxation of the flight ban would be able to begin in Scotland from 7am and later lift across the rest of the UK.

But tonight the national air traffic authority, Nats, said since its last advice the volcano eruption in Iceland had strengthened and a "new ash cloud is spreading south and east towards the UK".

It said that the latest information from the Met Office showed the situation "is worsening in some areas" and that it did not expect airspace to be able to open as far south as the "main London airports" tomorrow.

The situation for Northern Irish airports in the morning is uncertain, due to the new cloud, though Scottish airports should be available from 7am, Nats said, and more airspace over England may become available from 1pm.

Earlier, British Airways said it would aim to resume some flights into and out of London's airports from 7pm tomorrow. But in light of tonight's update from Nats, a BA spokesman said it was "reviewing" its schedule.

Manchester airport tonight said it was sticking with plans to open at 9am tomorrow but a spokeswoman said it would monitor further updates.

[snip]

[sourcery]

“The future is cloudy...”

[dennisw]

just dang!

[autumnraine]

This report says a new ash cloud is coming down into Europe, but I can’t find any reports of the volcano. Is it showing any signs of stopping? I mean I am reading where people are HOPING, but does anyone know anything yet?

[AngelesCrestHighway]

No Fly zone.......

[blam]

Iceland Volcano Ash Coming to America

FOXNews.com
April 19, 2010

Millions of tons of ash from a volcano in Iceland that have grounded planes across Europe is traveling towards North America, government officials report.

The latest Volcanic Ash Advisory from London's weather office shows clouds of volcanic ash stretching across the Atlantic Ocean.

Millions of tons of ash from a volcano in Iceland that have grounded planes across Europe is traveling towards North America, government officials report.

The latest satellite projections from the U.K.'s Met Office, which monitors volcanic eruptions as part of a global network of Ash Advisory Centers, show the ash cloud already reaching as far as Newfoundland, explained Bob Syvret, a forecaster for the agency.

"The latest graphics that we've issued suggest that the tail end of the plume might just get into the far east of the Newfoundland area," he told FoxNews.com.

But breathe easier, travellers: "It doesn't look a risk for North America" at this point, said Syvret, adding that the cloud would "probably stop around the Newfoundland area, and then move north into Greenland."

[snip]

[AngelesCrestHighway]

The ash cloud could go on for days, weeks, months or years....Good luck Europe!

[jdsteel]

Just ONE more reminder of how little man can actually do to affect the globe compared to nature.

[Dallas59]

Another crime on Bush’s list!

[Travis McGee]

One hiccup by Momman Nature trumps all of man’s technology.

Makes you wonder what she has in store?

“Man plans, and God laughs.”

[blam]

" I mean I am reading where people are HOPING, but does anyone know anything yet?"

NO!

Iceland’s Volcano Proving Tough to Predict

by Richard A. Kerr
April 19, 2010 5:12 PM

Volcano prediction can be tough going, but volcanologists really have their hands full with the ongoing eruption at Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull. When will it end? Will there be even more ash? And will Eyjafjallajökull's bigger and badder neighbor Katla join in? It seems that the very character of Icelandic volcanoes is working against reliable forecasting. If anything, the long-term outlook is bad.

Eyjafjallajökull’s orneriness became obvious 17 April, when scientists at the University of Iceland and the Icelandic Meteorological Office announced that the volcano’s chemistry had changed. At the extremes, volcanoes behave one of two ways: quietly like Hawaii’s Mauna Loa, which almost always just oozes lava for years on end; or boisterously like Mount St. Helens, which quickly rose to an explosive climax and then retired.

The latest chemical analyses of ash explain how Eyjafjallajökull switched without warning from quiet lava to plane-grounding ash plume. The key was a boost in the silica content of the magma arriving at the surface. Silica-rich magma makes for more viscous—and thus more explosive—lavas and can be produced as some minerals crystallize out of subterranean magma. The mountain, which was regularly monitored, gave no chemical warning that the switch was on the way.

Eyjafjallajökull is not divulging its longer-term intentions either. According to geophysicist Páll Einarsson of the University of Iceland, the magma feeding the current eruption seems to be coming from down deep rather than a shallow chamber. So it is impossible to gauge just how much magma could emerge during this episode of activity.

The best clues may come from the historical record. That isn’t encouraging, according to volcanologist Lee Siebert, director of the Global Volcanism Program at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Ominously, three of the previous four eruptions at Eyjafjallajökull have been accompanied by eruptions at its neighbor Katla, according to Siebert’s reading of the literature.

Eyjafjallajökull’s most recent eruption, in 1821, rated a moderate two on the logarithmic volcanic explosivity index. This index runs from a nonexplosive zero to an eight; Mount St. Helens was a five. But Katla has produced 208 ash layers in the past 8400 years, some eruptions rating a four or even a five. Icelanders have a close eye on Katla, Einarsson says, but no sign of stirrings yet.

[colorado tanker]

Maybe they'll need to bring her back into service . . . .

[givemELL]

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=43693

4/19/10 muddy gray cloud left center and down

[blam]

[tbw2]

1. Maybe this is God’s way of stopping global warming - or starting an ice age.
2. I wonder if God has a sense of humor and is doing this to ground all flights to prevent another 9-11.

[blam]

Another Iceland Volcano Under Watch

By Andrea Thompson, LiveScience Senior Writer
posted: 19 April 2010 05:33 pm ET

News reports earlier today that another volcano (Hekla) on Iceland had erupted just as Eyjafjallajokull was beginning to calm down turned out to be false. But scientists are warily keeping their eye on one of Eyjafjallajokull's neighbors, which has been known to erupt following its sister.

An MSNBC Twitter feed and one other news service ran reports that a volcano called Hekla had erupted on Iceland today. Those rumors turned out to be false, but even if Hekla had blown its top today, it would have been "purely coincidental," said Jay Miller, a volcano researcher at Texas A&M University.

But another, closer volcano, called Katla, has a history of going off whenever Eyjafjallajokull does. Three times in history when Eyjafjallajokull has erupted — in 926, 1621 and 1821 — Katla has too.

"What we have here is a historical coincidence," Miller told LiveScience — which could be just that, a coincidence. After all, Katla has erupted 22 times over that same period of history independently of Eyjafjallajokull.
But Katla is a bigger volcano, with a bigger eruptive potential, "so that's why people are concerned," Miller said. Katla could also generate a similar ash plume to Eyjafjallajokull, which hampered air traffic across Europe last week and into this week.

There is some possibility that the connection between the eruptions of the two volcanoes is more than coincidence, because there is a sort of give-and-take relationship between the magma chambers that feed each volcano.
Volcanoes explode because the pressure of the magma building up in the chamber forces it out, which then relieves the stress in the chamber; but what relieves stress in the one chamber could increase stress in a neighboring chamber. For now though, scientists don't know what might relate the two volcanoes.

Hekla is farther away from Eyjafjallajokull than Katla and is "probably the most active volcano in Iceland," Miller said. So if it happened to go off soon, it would likely be coincidence.

Iceland has an extensive monitoring system for its volcanoes, which are common features of the country's landscape and are ultimately responsible for the island's existence.

Icelandic geologists are monitoring Katla for any signs of ground swelling or micro-tremors, which could signify an impending eruption. So far though, there is no indication "that Katla is waking up," Miller said. Though he cautioned that volcanoes don't always let scientists know when they're about to blow.

"There may not be any warning," Miller said.

[Natural Born 54]

Newsflash for Mr. Syvret. We’re on Cape Breton Island, N.S. with brisk winds and heavy skies - have scratchy throat, some coughing, irritated eyes and a few moments of strange taste in mouth traveling around the island on appointments today. Not all of it is turning north and moving into Greenland.

[dr_lew]

Yeah, that's todays Terra satellite view. Note that the ash is at low altitude with clouds above it, and that it clearly diminishes as it tails off. This is not the same phenomenon as the initial eruption that injected ash into the stratosphere.

[cherry]

my niece is stuck in France but hopefully will fly out tomorrow if all goes well...prayers for her..

[tractorman]

The lack of “global warming implications” due to the volcanic eruption in the MSM is revealing.

They’re waiting for it to quickly end and dissipate and then report that it was merely a flesh wound to mother earth. Cap and Trade must accelerate!

If it goes on indefinitely, all bets are off.