Icelandic volcano a lurking threat

 
0 CommentsPrint E-mail China Daily, May 14, 2010
Adjust font size:

It's been a month now, and Iceland's volcano shows no sign it will stop belching ash across Europe anytime soon. The rolling eruptions threaten more havoc for summer vacation plans and higher costs for struggling airlines.

Although the global disruption of last month's massive eruption has faded, smaller ash plumes snarled air services intermittently over the last week all the way to Turkey - more than 4,100 kilometers from the Eyjafjallajokul (pronounced ay-yah-FYAH-lah-yer-kuhl) volcano.

Air-control authorities and geologists agree that the continent must brace indefinitely for rapid shutdowns of air services as computerized projections try to pinpoint where the ash clouds will float next at the whim of shifting winds.

"We do not pretend to be psychics," said Einar Kjartansson, a geophysicist at the Icelandic Meteorological Office, who often has been asked to guess the volcano's next move since it began spitting lava and ash March 20.

Huge volumes of ash, which can clog jet engines, forced most of northern Europe to shut its air services April 15-20, grounding an estimated 10 million travelers worldwide.

Since then the ash plume has thinned and spread out, shifting shape by the hour, rising into North Atlantic air routes and imposing awkward detours on hundreds of trans-Atlantic flights daily.

The costs to airlines associated with an ash cloud can add up quickly. Two hours of jet fuel to divert to another airport can cost $5,000 to $10,000.

This weekend, Lufthansa couldn't land in Munich so it diverted planes to other German airports and bused passengers the rest of the way.

Jose Luis Barrera, deputy president of Spain's College of Geologists, said Europe should get ready for ash-covered inconvenience at least through the summer - and perhaps longer. He noted that the volcano's last eruption ran from 1821 to 1823.

"We're going to have to learn to live with the volcano," Barrera said.

Irish tourism centers dependent on Europeans and Americans arriving by air say their summer will be bleak if the volcano doesn't stop. Ireland's government has called in tourism industry officials emphasizing they must woo more Irish to compensate for the missing foreigners.

She said this summer, the key to financial survival would be the approximately 50 cruise liners expected to disgorge tourists in Cobh. "We're lucky in that we can fall back on the cruise liners. Nothing is going to stop them from coming in," said Debbie Walsh, manager of a heritage museum.

Print E-mail Bookmark and Share

Go to Forum >>0 Comments

No comments.

Add your comments...

  • User Name Required
  • Your Comment
  • Racist, abusive and off-topic comments may be removed by the moderator.
Send your storiesGet more from China.org.cnMobileRSSNewsletter
主站蜘蛛池模板: 亚洲av无码一区二区三区不卡| 午夜影皖普通区| 2017天天干夜夜操| 天天爱天天做天天爽夜夜揉| 中文人妻熟妇乱又伦精品| 日本护士xxxx视频| 五月综合色婷婷| 欧美一区二区三区综合色视频| 亚洲精品成人a| 痴汉电车中文字幕| 午夜黄色一级片| 色噜噜狠狠色综合免费视频| 国产女人18毛片水真多1| 中文免费观看视频网站| 国产精品日本一区二区在线播放| 99精品国产在热久久| 妇女性内射冈站HDWWWCOM| 三级理论中文字幕在线播放| 扒下老师的黑色丝袜桶她| 久久久午夜精品福利内容| 日韩一品在线播放视频一品免费| 亚洲AV无码成人网站在线观看| 欧美另videosbestsex死尸| 亚洲欧美另类中文字幕| 污网站免费在线观看| 人妻无码aⅴ不卡中文字幕 | 好大好硬好深好爽想要之黄蓉| 中国一级片在线观看| 成年日韩片av在线网站| 久久99九九99九九精品| 日本a级片免费看| 久久久久99精品成人片试看| 日本阿v视频高清在线中文| 久久精品国产精品亚洲毛片| 日韩精品在线一区二区| 亚欧色一区w666天堂| 杨乃武与小白菜港版在线| 亚洲av人无码综合在线观看 | 超清首页国产亚洲丝袜| 国产精品亚洲精品爽爽| 香蕉视频黄在线观看|