Eyja-what? Eyjafjallajokull is a volcano in Iceland that has been recently making waves - not with its hard-to-pronounce name, mind you - but with its recent eruption that spewed enough ash to paralyze much of northern Europe's airspace. An earlier eruption on March 20 was just a minor belch - a fissure vent, to be exact - but it was enough to shut down runways in the country and cost Swiss pilot Riccardo Mortara a few hours' delay in his fastest round-the-world flight record (he still won the record, by the way).
The latest eruption, occurring on April 14, caused floods from melting glaciers that required the evacuation of some 800 residents. Moreover, it spewed volcanic ash at a height of up to 11 km above the Earth's surface that spread to most of northern Europe, grounding flights for several days. Here's an image showing the extent of ash cloud cover from Eyjafjallajokull's April 14 eruption - see how it was able to cover the UK, which was more than 1,000 km away.
The latest eruption, occurring on April 14, caused floods from melting glaciers that required the evacuation of some 800 residents. Moreover, it spewed volcanic ash at a height of up to 11 km above the Earth's surface that spread to most of northern Europe, grounding flights for several days. Here's an image showing the extent of ash cloud cover from Eyjafjallajokull's April 14 eruption - see how it was able to cover the UK, which was more than 1,000 km away.
Photo courtesy of Science Direct, which was taken from the European Space Agency.
