By: Coco Xu
On July 30, 2024, the Icelandic Meteorological Office issued a warning that the country may soon experience another volcanic eruption, following an incident on May 29 when a volcano near the town of Grindavik spewed lava 150 feet in the air, forcing its 4,000 residents to flee the region.
Such volcanic activity is extraordinary since when volcanoes become dormant, they usually remain in that state for centuries. On March 20, 2010, Iceland’s annoyingly difficult-to-pronounce volcano Eyjafjallajökull notoriously erupted after remaining dormant for 180 years, spewing molten ash into the sky and causing severe disruptions in the airline industry. Now, this inaptly named island nation is once again bracing for another eruption.
Ed Venzke, who manages the Smithsonian Institution’s Global Volcanism Program database, told The New York Times, “One [volcano] gets active, one shuts down, another picks up, there are some lava flows, fire fountains, there’s explosions, and it just keeps doing that.”
Experts say that the impending eruption may pose local challenges. Centuries ago, the area surrounding the locations of recent volcanic activity was completely uninhabited. Now, residents have built a neighborhood around it. An eruption could put countless members of this community at risk.
“We’re able to forecast eruptions with considerable accuracy,” said Dr. Matthew J. Roberts, Director of the Icelandic Meteorological Office. “And we see they’re only hazardous locally. They don’t pose a problem to the rest of the country.”
In the shadow of Eyjafjallajökull’s eruption a decade ago, flight disruptions are always a concern. A spokesperson from the London VAAC, one of nine volcanic ash advisory centers across the world that work to help pilots avoid volcanic ash, said that no eruption in Iceland since 2011 has been major enough to affect air travel on a global level.
During the time of Eyjafjallajökull’s eruption, the International Civil Aviation Organization broadcasted this advice to pilots across the globe, “In the case of volcanic ash, regardless of ash concentration — avoid, avoid, avoid.” We do not know for sure what this eruption will entail, so knowing how to respond is key in order to prevent casualties.