In 1783 an Icelandic eruption threw up enough dust to temporarily block out the sun over Europe.
Describing the summer of 1783 in his classic Natural History of Selborne, British naturalist Gilbert White wrote it was “an amazing and portentous one … the peculiar haze, or smokey fog, that prevailed for many weeks in this island, and in every part of Europe, and even beyond its limits, was a most extraordinary appearance, unlike anything known within the memory of man” [The Guardian]. Gilbert wrote that the haze blanked out the sun at midday, that it was “particularly lurid and blood-colored at rising and setting,” and that the heat was so intense that “butcher’s meat could hardly be eaten on the same day after it was killed.” This bizarre summer was followed by an usually harsh winter, historians say. Environmental historians have also pointed to the disruption caused to the economies of northern Europe, where food poverty was a major factor in the build-up to the French revolution of 1789 [The Guardian].
If past is prelude, then the volcanic eruption in Iceland whose plume of ash has grounded almost 300 flights across Europe may not only affect air travel in the coming days, it may also have a lingering impact on Europe’s weather. Experts are looking back to the aftereffects of a previous eruption–when the Laki volcano in Southern Iceland exploded more than 200 years ago. That explosionhad catastrophic consequences for weather, agriculture and transport across the northern hemisphere – and helped trigger the French revolution [The Guardian].
Only when they finally touched down and walked on to the tarmac did they realise the cause of their emergency. The aircraft had flown straight through a volcanic plume - a cloud of silica ash that had been churned into the atmosphere by Mount Galunggung, a small volcano which had erupted on the island of Java.
Describing the summer of 1783 in his classic Natural History of Selborne, British naturalist Gilbert White wrote it was “an amazing and portentous one … the peculiar haze, or smokey fog, that prevailed for many weeks in this island, and in every part of Europe, and even beyond its limits, was a most extraordinary appearance, unlike anything known within the memory of man” [The Guardian]. Gilbert wrote that the haze blanked out the sun at midday, that it was “particularly lurid and blood-colored at rising and setting,” and that the heat was so intense that “butcher’s meat could hardly be eaten on the same day after it was killed.” This bizarre summer was followed by an usually harsh winter, historians say. Environmental historians have also pointed to the disruption caused to the economies of northern Europe, where food poverty was a major factor in the build-up to the French revolution of 1789 [The Guardian].If past is prelude, then the volcanic eruption in Iceland whose plume of ash has grounded almost 300 flights across Europe may not only affect air travel in the coming days, it may also have a lingering impact on Europe’s weather. Experts are looking back to the aftereffects of a previous eruption–when the Laki volcano in Southern Iceland exploded more than 200 years ago. That explosionhad catastrophic consequences for weather, agriculture and transport across the northern hemisphere – and helped trigger the French revolution [The Guardian].
It was June 24, 1982, and the British Airways flight from Malaysia to Australia had just been plunged into a sudden and catastrophic drama.
Powerful: Technology can't save us from natural phenomena like volcanoes
For nearly 15 minutes, Captain Moody and his flight crew wrestled with the controls to avoid a high-speed ditch into the Indian Ocean. As the aircraft began to lose height, electric sparks played across the controls and a sickly burning smell filled the cabin.
Eventually, much to Captain Moody's relief (and some surprise) all four engines reignited.
But the drama was not over. As the 747 came into land at Jakarta airport, the crew found they could hardly see the runway lights.
Only when they finally touched down and walked on to the tarmac did they realise the cause of their emergency. The aircraft had flown straight through a volcanic plume - a cloud of silica ash that had been churned into the atmosphere by Mount Galunggung, a small volcano which had erupted on the island of Java.
Indeed, if an Icelandic volcano were to erupt today with the ferocity of the 1783 event, it has been calculated that so much ash would be thrown into the air that the resulting clouds would shut down aviation across the entire northern hemisphere not just for a day but for months - enough to trigger economic meltdown.
Thousands would be certainly killed by the volcanic fumes.
Such a scenario remains, for now, a distant prospect. But as the current eruption in Iceland shows, even a modest rumbling in the underworld is enough to throw a gigantic spanner into the works of modern life.
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