August 5, 2022

"We know we can’t say, ‘Stay away.’ We are not locking the place."

Said Hjordis Gudmundsdottir, a spokeswoman for Iceland’s civil protection agency, quoted in "Three Tourists Are Injured Near Volcanic Eruption in Iceland/The injuries were not serious, but they underscored the risks facing tourists who hike to the Fagradalsfjall volcano in southwest Iceland, officials said" (NYT).
The eruption site “is a dangerous area and conditions can change quickly,” the Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management said in a statement on Thursday. It warned that toxic gas can accumulate when the wind decreases, that new lava fountains can open with little warning and that accumulating lava can flow quickly across the ground.

14 comments:

Enigma said...

Falling off a cliff when you are taking a selfie: Darwin award

Walking several kilometers to an active volcano to take a selfie: Gold Star Darwin award

Mike Sylwester said...

The weight of the polar caps is suppressing volcanic activity.

As the caps melt, volcanos will emerge in the polar regions.

Those volcanos will ruin the world's climate.

I saw a documentary about this somewhere (PBS?)

Very scary.

John henry said...

Why can't they say "stay away"?

It may be difficult or undesirable to block off the area but the least they can do is point out the dangers. Post signs etc.

I can't read article so perhaps they are. But it sounds like they are just saying "whatever"

John LGBTQBNY Henry

gilbar said...

you know what would make The BEST Selfie?
a video of you, slowly walking backwards towards the volcano, and then Live Action, as you fell into the molten lava!! EVERYONE should do this!
Of course, you'd need to be live streaming, 'cause it's not as if you'd be able to download later.
But, with 5G, that shouldn't be a problem!
Think HOW COOL your friends would think you were; when they watched your ultimate* selfie!!
If you're a person (who isn't? :) that wants to be popular, AND cares about overpopulation..
You NEED to take the Ultimate Selfie!!!! Do It! Do it TODAY!!

ultimate*
ŭl′tə-mĭt
adjective
Being last in a series, process, or progression: synonym: last.

ccscientist said...

There are toxic gases and sudden lava eruptions but you can't close it? Ok then.

Jonathan said...

From the headline I had thought this would be about Monkeypox mitigation.

The Drill SGT said...

Lava can move fast.

The Ginkgo basalt was examined over its 500 km (310 mi) flow path from a Ginkgo flow feeder dike near Kahlotus, Washington to the flow terminus in the Pacific Ocean at Yaquina Head, Oregon. The basalt had an upper melting temperature of 1 095 ± 5 °C and a lower temperature to 1 085 ± 5 °C; this indicates that the maximum temperature drop along the Ginkgo flow was 20 °C. The lava must have spread quickly to achieve this uniformity. Analyses indicate that the flow must remain laminar, as turbulent flow would cool more quickly. This could be accomplished by sheet flow, which can travel at velocities of 1 to 8 metres per second (2.2 to 17.9 mph) without turbulence and minimal cooling, suggesting that the Ginkgo flow occurred in less than a week.

JAORE said...

I'm going to Iceland in a few weeks.

I will NOT be peering into the mouth of active volcanoes.

Joe Smith said...

Hilarious that people have to be told to stay clear of an erupting volcano.

Who knew?

Temujin said...

My first thought was that it was American tourists who saw the signs, or did not see the signs, or heard the warnings and ignored them, because We're Americans. The article did not give up that info. Or, the Icelanders are too nice to put a bad look to their 'foreign friends'.

I love my country but I think we have some issues when out in public.

Joe Smith said...

'My first thought was that it was American tourists who saw the signs...'

The problem is, the sign reads "Djkfdiurerj maksldrue dfmkdlidd fm ifljasdflkj."

Good luck with that...

YoungHegelian said...

"Pliny the Elder, please pick up the white courtesy phone."

Marc in Eugene said...

The Icelanders' version of the NYT article, from today's Morgunbladid (translated on their site Iceland Monitor).

Rescuers from the Rescue Team Þorbjörn from Grindavík were monitoring the eruption site last night. They say that many of the hikers were not adequately prepared for the hike and many of them had no headlights while hiking in the dark, according to an announcement from local police.

The estimated number of hikers at the eruption site last night just after 3 am was 70-80 people.

The hike has been a stretch for many of the visitors and one individual had to be rescued from uphill after twisting his ankle. Another hiker who had hurt his leg also needed assistance and a third one [too], who had stumbled and fallen in the old lava.


This is best described as 'being polite about idiot tourists who are none the less spending US dollars in Iceland'.

The Godfather said...

As I recall, Mark Twain wrote about walking across a Hawaiian volcano in the 1860's, and suffering no ill effects.