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Hmm, well we saw something like it recently and it mostly just stranded people in Europe from what I recall. Eyjafjallajökull erupted in Iceland about 10 years

by SllX 6y ago

Hmm, well we saw something like it recently and it mostly just stranded people in Europe from what I recall. Eyjafjallajökull erupted in Iceland about 10 years ago and there wasn’t anything we could do but wait it out, and it was a lot less severe than what’s described in this article.

SpicyLemonZest 6y ago
Although it's worth asking, did the eruption affect agricultural output in Iceland? Maybe modern farming is just resilient enough against volcanic eruptions, as it is against all the other things that used to cause famines.
- tastyfreeze 6y ago
  Modern farming is not resilient in any way. Production is centralized, mechanized and heavily reliant on outside inputs. Global trade lessens the degree to which a regional crop failure affects a population. Smaller, distributed, local farms lessen the reliance on trade but still very much rely on our gracious host to provide clean rain and sun. The only way to escape that is immense amounts of electricity for indoor farming.
  - SpicyLemonZest 6y ago
    It's my understanding that even the worst case eruptions described in the article didn't make it globally impossible to grow crops. IIUC they just produced a higher than normal prevalence of local issues.
  - pfdietz 6y ago
    The huge resilience is the overcapacity due to growing feed for livestock.
- arnarbi 6y ago
  For the recent eruption prevailing winds were from the north, and the volcano is on the south coast. So most of the effects were blown out to sea. But farms in the vicinity of the volcano certainly felt it: https://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/iceland-volcano-plume-archive1.html https://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/iceland-volcano-p... (see e.g. the photos from 5.11.10) http://lisa.lbhi.is/lisalib/getfile.aspx?itemid=2747 http://lisa.lbhi.is/lisalib/getfile.aspx?itemid=2747 https://www.vegagerdin.is/Vefur2.nsf/Files/Ahrif_eldgossins_i_Eyjafjallajokli_a_ibua/$file/%C3%81hrif%20eldgossins%20%C3%AD%20Eyjafjallaj%C3%B6kli%20%C3%A1%20%C3%ADb%C3%BAa.pdf https://www.vegagerdin.is/Vefur2.nsf/Files/Ahrif_eldgossins_... The larger eruption in 1783 killed over half of livestock, and a quarter of the human population in the ensuing famine: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laki
- SllX 6y ago
  That’s outside my expertise, but there’s a few good replies to your question already. My understanding is that while the eruption occurred in Iceland, the effects of it were overwhelmingly felt further south and southeast in Europe, although I’m sure there were flight delays in Iceland as a result. I’m sorry to say most of my remembrance of this event was through a few bloggers I was following at the time who were personally affected.

by SllX 6y ago

SpicyLemonZest 6y ago

Although it's worth asking, did the eruption affect agricultural output in Iceland? Maybe modern farming is just resilient enough against volcanic eruptions, as it is against all the other things that used to cause famines.

tastyfreeze 6y ago
Modern farming is not resilient in any way. Production is centralized, mechanized and heavily reliant on outside inputs. Global trade lessens the degree to which a regional crop failure affects a population. Smaller, distributed, local farms lessen the reliance on trade but still very much rely on our gracious host to provide clean rain and sun. The only way to escape that is immense amounts of electricity for indoor farming.
- SpicyLemonZest 6y ago
  It's my understanding that even the worst case eruptions described in the article didn't make it globally impossible to grow crops. IIUC they just produced a higher than normal prevalence of local issues.
- pfdietz 6y ago
  The huge resilience is the overcapacity due to growing feed for livestock.
arnarbi 6y ago
For the recent eruption prevailing winds were from the north, and the volcano is on the south coast. So most of the effects were blown out to sea. But farms in the vicinity of the volcano certainly felt it: https://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/iceland-volcano-plume-archive1.html https://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/iceland-volcano-p... (see e.g. the photos from 5.11.10) http://lisa.lbhi.is/lisalib/getfile.aspx?itemid=2747 http://lisa.lbhi.is/lisalib/getfile.aspx?itemid=2747 https://www.vegagerdin.is/Vefur2.nsf/Files/Ahrif_eldgossins_i_Eyjafjallajokli_a_ibua/$file/%C3%81hrif%20eldgossins%20%C3%AD%20Eyjafjallaj%C3%B6kli%20%C3%A1%20%C3%ADb%C3%BAa.pdf https://www.vegagerdin.is/Vefur2.nsf/Files/Ahrif_eldgossins_... The larger eruption in 1783 killed over half of livestock, and a quarter of the human population in the ensuing famine: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laki
SllX 6y ago
That’s outside my expertise, but there’s a few good replies to your question already. My understanding is that while the eruption occurred in Iceland, the effects of it were overwhelmingly felt further south and southeast in Europe, although I’m sure there were flight delays in Iceland as a result. I’m sorry to say most of my remembrance of this event was through a few bloggers I was following at the time who were personally affected.