1.6 - Iceland Flashcards
How far did the ash clouds reach?
Northern Italy
How much did the eruption cost the European economy?
$5 billion
How was sport disrupted by the eruption?
MotoGP Japanese GP had to be postponed as team equipment couldn’t be shipped out.
How much did African economies lose?
$65 million
How much did airlines lose?
$1.1 billion
How did this affect suppliers and contractors?
Suppliers and contractors who were hired for events which were cancelled no longer have jobs to do
Lack of income
What were the local effects of the eruption?
- respiratory conditions in people in South Iceland due to ash
- increased congestion as land transport use surged
- political events were cancelled as they weren’t important
- price of rail tickets rose
Where were most of the cancelled flights headed?
US from European cities
How were supply chains affected?
- Kenyan flower industry couldn’t ship flowers to Europe, losing $2 million
- Clothes, car manufacturing was disrupted as production lines could not source parts from abroad as air freight was constrained
What prevented planes from flying during the eruption?
- large ash clouds were released by the volcano
- as of that point, not much was known about acceptable levels of ash in air
- ash is known to be abrasive and can damage engines
- thus all flights passing through that airspace were cancelled
What combination of events lead to the ash cloud spreading?
- a stable jet-stream was over Iceland at the time the volcano erupted; is unusual
- carried ash along with it over Europe
- may become more common due to global warming shifting jet stream patterns
What are the dangers posed by ash?
- Ash fall in large amounts can bury fields and homes
- Ash is abrasive and can damage aircraft engines
- Ash particulate is fine enough to aggravate any respiratory conditions
Why is it unlikely to see something like Eyjafjallajokull to occur again?
- better understanding of how much ash engines can ingest; 200-2000 micrograms/m^3 of ash (CAA)
- only perishables are transported by planes (usually)
- most goods are transported by ship
- jet-stream conditions aren’t likely to be replicated in the near future
- innovations in technology (electric motors) may sidestep issues relating to ingestion of ash
Why is it likely to see something like Eyjafjallajokull in the future?
- The jet-streams are pushing towards the poles, likely for jet-stream to follow similar path
- supply chains will always exist and may become more complex, thus disruptions will always be at least on same level
- perishable goods carried by planes are usually valued more than those carried by ship, thus large impacts from a lack of these is bound to be seen
