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Friday 2 December 2011

Katla Volcano

The 1918 Katla Eruption
In the last 4 weeks there have been 500 small tremors under and around Katla, a volcano in Iceland. Last summer (just 24 hours after we drove across it!) an earlier flood caused by a small Katla eruption washed away the main bridge across the ring road in the south of Iceland near Vik. Katla erupts every 40-80 years and another is due. The consequences can be dramatic with 20% of the Icelandic population wiped out in an earlier one a few centuries back. It's dust cloud can affect weather on a worldwide scale reducing the temperature across the planet for several years. We could be in for a very cold spell for a few years if Katla decides to erupt big time.


2 comments:

  1. If it isn't one thing, it's another. The climate change is one thing but a shutdown of aviation in the northern hemisphere could be the straw that breaks the camel's back of the economic situation. We certainly live in interesting times...

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  2. Well, a drop in temperatures worldwide of a few degrees for a few years may not be a bad thing.

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