Volcano News
I have spent the past couple of weeks focusing on the Icelandic volcano. The main crater of Bardarbunga is subsiding, and this is not good news. This can be a sign that the crater itself is going to blow.
Rifts to the north of the crater, which are not under glacial ice, continue to erupt. This is producing gas which is getting blown into inhabited areas in the East Fjords. Icelandic Civil Defense has warned vulnerable people -- children, the elderly, people with respiratory problems -- to stay inside with the windows closed.
That is where things stand now. There are three alternatives, according to the Icelandic Meteorological Service. (1) The activity could gradually slow down and end. (2) There could be an eruption under the glacial ice, but not in the Bardarbunga crater. This most likely would produce ash and flooding. (3) There could be an eruption in the crater itself, which would be likely to produce a lot of ash and flooding. This last could threaten hydroelectric dams which produce a lot of the country's power -- and maybe people as well.
If you look at the previous post, you will see that the alternatives are the same ones listed there. The situation has gotten worse -- grave, per the Icelandic National News Service -- because of the subsidence within the Bardarbunga crater. Other than that, we wait and see.
I am obviously concerned about Iceland. In addition, I am avoiding thinking about the American government's latest move into the Middle East and the behavior of the Republicans at home. I feel I am living in a collapsing empire, run by idiots, in a world at the edge of ruin. It's a science fictional plot, and I don't like it.
Rifts to the north of the crater, which are not under glacial ice, continue to erupt. This is producing gas which is getting blown into inhabited areas in the East Fjords. Icelandic Civil Defense has warned vulnerable people -- children, the elderly, people with respiratory problems -- to stay inside with the windows closed.
That is where things stand now. There are three alternatives, according to the Icelandic Meteorological Service. (1) The activity could gradually slow down and end. (2) There could be an eruption under the glacial ice, but not in the Bardarbunga crater. This most likely would produce ash and flooding. (3) There could be an eruption in the crater itself, which would be likely to produce a lot of ash and flooding. This last could threaten hydroelectric dams which produce a lot of the country's power -- and maybe people as well.
If you look at the previous post, you will see that the alternatives are the same ones listed there. The situation has gotten worse -- grave, per the Icelandic National News Service -- because of the subsidence within the Bardarbunga crater. Other than that, we wait and see.
I am obviously concerned about Iceland. In addition, I am avoiding thinking about the American government's latest move into the Middle East and the behavior of the Republicans at home. I feel I am living in a collapsing empire, run by idiots, in a world at the edge of ruin. It's a science fictional plot, and I don't like it.
posted by Eleanor at 10:33 AM
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