Europe was stunned to silence by Eyjafjallajökull's eruption. Birds tweeting on the tarmac, skies devoid of contrails, the roar of jets stilled, packed trains and ferries. As Professor Barnhardt asked Hilda in The Day The Earth Stood Still, "Tell me, Hilda, does all this frighten you? Does it make you feel insecure?" Hilda: "Yes, sir, it certainly does." Professor Barnhardt: "That's good, Hilda. I'm glad."
Alas, there is no Gort to "burn the Earth to a cinder" if we don't get our emissions act together, and that would probably be ecologically unsound anyway. As soon as the dust settles the airlines and passengers will try to get back to "normal" as soon as possible. The only change will be that airlines will be begging governments for billions. Wait, maybe they were doing that already . . . .
The Economist discusses future eruption risks here.
Scammers seized an opportunity, as described here.
Some trial and tribulations are recounted here.
Schadenfreude ran rampant, as here.
And "Klaatu barada nikto" is Icelandic for "Quit pestering us for that 3.8 billion euros, or else."
[crossposted from the HaraBara blog]
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