Icelandic volcanic eruption

[Glaurung]

The volcanic eruption in Iceland seems to have fallen off the news in the last week or so, probably because there doesn't seem to be any immediate threat of ash clouds disrupting air traffic. Nevertheless, there is (so I discovered) a substantial eruption in progress, with lava fountains up to 100m high along a fissure 1.5km long. It's spewing sulphur dioxide (SO₂) into the atmosphere, a cloud of which drifted across Ireland on Friday evening. 10% of Icelandic territory (admittedly some of the least populated) has been evacuated because of the danger of floods from melting glaciers. And there's a distinct possibility of a major eruption with world-wide consequences for climate.

Where did I find out about this? An Icelandic blogger writing on Daily Kos, under the name Rei. The posting history might be the easiest way to get into the story: there's a post on the subject roughly daily from 17 August onwards. The introductory post, Just to Let You All Know, explains some of the possibilities, and why we should be concerned. Each of the daily posts includes a summary of the latest science results and other news, with some thoughts on what might come next. There's also a good selection of images and videos to illustrate what's happening. I intend to keep reading!

EDIT (2014-09-10 08:00):
I thought I would add here the links I've already included in other posts, just for convenience:

• Near real-time SO₂ map (NB. delayed 3-6 hours; no data at all overnight)
• Webcams: Bárðarbunga and Bárðarbunga 2

EDIT (2014-09-27 12:42):
I finally got organised to find a link for official UK air quality data. This provides current readings, and graphs for the last week, for an extensive network of sites. Unfortunately most of them don't measure SO₂ - the focus seems to be on nitrogen oxides.

[Glaurung]

A quick summary from last night's post: the eruption is continuing, and eastern Iceland is swathed in a blue mist of SO₂ pollution - way above WHO safe levels for long-term exposure. It's currently blowing north-east into the Arctic, but at some point it's very likely to head towards Britain and continental Europe. We would get a few days' warning, so people with respiratory problems should be prepared for this.

[comrade_general]

[Glaurung]

Another link, for people who want to see where the SO₂ is going - it's a near real-time display of satellite data by a Belgian organisation.

[Glaurung]

Two more links, webcams this time: Bárðarbunga and Bárðarbunga 2. You too can watch a volcanic eruption live on your screen!

Note: the images are a reasonable size and refresh frequently, so they might be a bit heavy on bandwidth.

[comrade_general]

I'm using work's internet, so they can suck it!

[Glaurung]

I thought an update might be a good idea. The eruption at Holuhraun is still going on: it has now built up volcanic cones about 70m (220 feet) high, and a lava flow over 10km (6 miles) long. This is the largest Icelandic eruption by volume since the nineteenth century. It's still spewing SO₂, intermittently producing dangerous concentrations in various parts of Iceland - described as like breathing in diesel fumes direct from the exhaust. It's still blowing across Europe now and then - Scandinavia got a dose a week or two ago, and there's some over the North Sea today.

Meanwhile, at Bardarbunga, the caldera is still sinking at roughly 50cm (20 inches) per day, with a continual stream of earthquakes up to magnitude 5.5. It's not at all clear what will happen next: whether Bardarbunga will go bang, catastrophically, as it does every few centuries, or whether the Holuhraun eruption is enough to let off whatever pressure has built up down there.

[Tom]

Still haven't heard about this on the mainstream media. :/

[comrade_general]

Of course not, the media doesn't want people to know that the earth does things by itself.

[Tom]

Yeah but in all seriousness it's weird that it hasn't been mentioned.
Illerminaty.

[Glaurung]

Another update: I found the official UK air quality data (and added it to the links in the first post). For each of a large number of monitoring stations, there are current levels of several pollutants, and a graph of the last week's data. It's good if you want to know about nitrogen oxides; a lot more patchy, alas, for SO₂ - I think my nearest measurements are from the London area, about 50 miles away.

The hunt for the website was inspired by the near-realtime maps, which show detectable levels of SO₂ over the UK last weekend - Saturday 21 Sept and Sunday 21 Sept. These correlate with very obvious spikes on the UK SO₂ graphs (some as late as Monday afternoon in southern England), as compared with near zero the rest of the time. If you want to see this on the graphs, look in the next couple of days, because the data will have gone after that.

[Glaurung]

The BBC has finally noticed that there's an eruption happening, and it's produced a lava flow the size of Manhattan - see the video article.

Meanwhile, in Iceland, the main effect continues to be the sulphur dioxide, which is swirling around the island at concentrations vastly above the recognised safe limits. Just to add to the fun, it's now cold enough to snow - this captures some of the SO₂, so there are layers of acid snow around the eruption as well. The rest of it diffuses into the general atmospheric circulation, mostly heading east and north-east. Eventually the air gets right around the planet, comes across Iceland again, and gets another dose. The real-time images are not too good at the moment (they need sunlight to do the spectroscopy!), but it looks as if low but detectable levels of SO₂ are building up in the Arctic and as far south as Britain.

[comrade_general]

Wow, the entire article:

"A volcano in Iceland has produced a river of molten rock that could cover the entire island of Manhattan in the United States.

Holuhraun has been erupting for three months and is responsible for the largest lava field in the country for more than 200 years.

Mick Embley reports."

Nice reporting there Mick Embley!

[Jubal]

Of course not, the media doesn't want people to know that the earth does things by itself.

Except Fox, who want to believe that humans can't affect the earth in any way ever and natural habitats just destroy themselves because they feel like it.

[comrade_general]

That doesn't make either side right.