Eyjafjallajokull

I'm very excited by the volcanic activity in Iceland, like all volcanophiles I know! Most excited for my classmate in Volcanoes class who is there now, setting up instrumentation to monitor any lightning being produced in the ash column! The beautiful, effusive fissure eruption of the last couple of weeks has been replaced by a more explosive eruption under the glacier. The explosivity is likely a result of the interaction of lava and ice/water. Huge lahars have been generated that have washed out to the ocean. All volcano nuts wish for large eruptions, and the hope is that maybe Katla volcano next door will also erupt. Sorry for the people in Europe who are stranded and can't fly, but this is what volcanoes do. We must adapt to the changing environment. If anything, we can now see how vulnerable a thing perfectly taken for granted by everyone - uniterrupted air travel - can be completely shut down by a *small* act of nature. This is a TINY eruption, imagine if there was a much bigger one? I love seeing volcanoes in the news, it makes me feel more validated as a future-volcanologist: I've had to defend my choice of studying volcanoes so often to people that don't think it's important!

PS. Proper pronunciation: AYA-feeyatla-yokutl