Volcano in Southwest Iceland Erupts Again, Raising Concerns Over Air Quality and Tourism

Austin Tang — Tue, 19 Dec 2023 18:08:23 +0000

A volcano in southwest Iceland erupted again on Tuesday, after a brief pause of eight months, spewing lava and smoke into the air. The eruption occurred in the Fagradalsfjall volcano, about 32 kilometers (20 miles) from the capital Reykjavik, and near the Keflavik Airport, the country’s main international hub.

The Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) said the eruption was small and did not pose a threat to aviation or public safety. However, it warned people to stay away from the site, as there may be high levels of volcanic gases and poor air quality in the vicinity. The IMO also advised people to monitor the air quality in their area and follow the instructions of the health authorities.

The eruption was preceded by a series of earthquakes that shook the Reykjanes Peninsula, where the volcano is located, for several days. The seismic activity indicated that magma was moving close to the surface, and scientists had anticipated an eruption somewhere on the peninsula.

The Fagradalsfjall volcano had previously erupted in March 2021, after nearly 800 years of dormancy. The eruption lasted for six months and attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors, who came to witness the spectacular lava flows and fountains. The eruption was considered a “tourist eruption”, as it was relatively harmless and accessible.

However, the new eruption may have a different impact on the tourism industry, which is already struggling due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some tour operators have canceled their trips to the volcano, citing safety concerns and uncertainty. Others have resumed their tours but with stricter measures and precautions.

The eruption may also affect the air quality in the region, especially if the wind direction changes and carries the volcanic plume toward populated areas. The plume contains sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, and other gases that can irritate the eyes, nose, and throat, and cause respiratory problems. People with asthma, heart disease, or other chronic conditions are more vulnerable to the effects of volcanic gases.

The IMO said it will continue to monitor the eruption and provide updates on its website and social media. It also urged the public to respect nature and the environment, and not to leave any traces or litter behind when visiting the volcano.

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A CLIMATE WARNING FROM THE CRADLE OF CIVILIZATION

Austin Tang — Mon, 31 Jul 2023 14:41:44 +0000

By Alissa J. Rubin

Photographs and Video by Bryan Denton

Alissa J. Rubin and Bryan Denton spent months reporting from nearly two dozen cities, towns and villages across Iraq.

July 29, 2023

The word itself, Mesopotamia, means the land between rivers. It is where the wheel was invented, irrigation flourished and the earliest known system of writing emerged. The rivers here, some scholars say, fed the fabled Hanging Gardens of Babylon and converged at the place described in the Bible as the Garden of Eden.

Now, so little water remains in some villages near the Euphrates River that families are dismantling their homes, brick by brick, piling them into pickup trucks — window frames, doors and all — and driving away.

“You would not believe it if I say it now, but this was a watery place,” said Sheikh Adnan al Sahlani, a science teacher here in southern Iraq near Naseriyah, a few miles from the Old Testament city of Ur, which the Bible describes as the hometown of the Prophet Abraham.

These days, “nowhere has water,” he said. Everyone who is left is “suffering a slow death.”

Boys searching for fish in the stagnant, shallow waters of a shrinking irrigation canal in a village on the outskirts of Najaf, Iraq.

Desiccated agricultural fields are now a common sight in once-verdant areas of Iraq. In many places, the groundwater has become too salty to drink.

A dead water buffalo in a family’s corral near Basra, Iraq. As water has become scarce, farmers have struggled to keep their herds alive.

You don’t have to go back to biblical times to find a more verdant Iraq. Well into the 20th century, the southern city of Basra was known as the “Venice of the East” for its canals, plied by gondola-like boats that threaded through residential neighborhoods.

Indeed, for much of its history, the Fertile Crescent — often defined as including areas of modern-day Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Iran, the West Bank and Gaza — did not lack for water, inspiring centuries of artists and writers who depicted the region as a lush ancient land. Spring floods were common, and rice, one of the most water-intensive crops in the world, was grown for more than 2,000 years.

But now nearly 40 percent of Iraq, an area roughly the size of Florida, has been overtaken by blowing desert sands that claim tens of thousands of acres of arable land every year.

Climate change and desertification are to blame, scientists say. So are weak governance and the continued reliance on wasteful irrigation techniques that date back millenniums to Sumerian times.

A tug of war over water — similar to the struggles over the Colorado River in the United States, the Mekong in Southeast Asiaand the Nile in northern Africa — has also intensified water shortages for tens of millions of people across the region.

Drying Up the Fertile Crescent

Upstream dams in Turkey and Iran have siphoned off water from Iraq’s two major rivers.

Another culprit is common to large regions of the world: a growing population whose water demands continue to rise, both because of sheer numbers and, in many places, higher living standards, increasing individual consumption.

Here in Iraq, the fallout is everywhere, fraying society, spurring deadly clashes between villages, displacing thousands of people every year, emboldening extremists and leaving ever more land looking like a barren moonscape.

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Volcano in Southwest Iceland Erupts Again, Raising Concerns Over Air Quality and Tourism

A CLIMATE WARNING FROM THE CRADLE OF CIVILIZATION