Iceland

To Icelanders, volcanos are old hat. A friend's dad in his fifties told me that Iceland had experienced something like 18 eruptions over his lifetime so far, many of which he witnessed first hand. With all that fire and brimstone, I'm surprised Icelanders haven't become an island of volcano worshippers. You might think that growing up so close to geological havoc gives a nation a certain resilience. Or would it be a constant terror?

Either way, Icelanders are fascinated by their current tongue twister of a volcano, and you don't need to go far in this town to see it. Eyjafjallajökull has its own live webcams, viral videos on YouTube, and even a song written about it. Not to mention that there's volcano-themed art all over Reykjavík (see photo below). About a month after the eruption began, Eyjafjallajökull's influence is apparent.

Flights across Europe have been grounded since April 14th because of the recent volcanic eruption in Iceland. Whether the pause in air traffic will reduce the human population's carbon footprint this week, however, remains to be seen for several reasons...

FLYING
It is hard to say what flight impacts will be globally until all the people have flown home. Also most of the world's flights have not been affected. Even in EU the timeframe less than 2% of a year so far. So total reduction in flying emissions is likely to be minimal. Not much of a story there. 

VOLCANOES AND CLIMATE
Volcanoes effect climate in two main ways.

Since the March 20 eruption, volcano experts have been warning it might signal that a bigger, more serious eruption of the volcano Katla is on its way. After I've recounted this knowledge to them excitedly, many Icelanders I know have taken this news in stride, reminding me, with a shoulder shrug, that if you live in Iceland, you should pretty much expect it.

One Icelander I know showed me a Fox News report on YouTube that was basically a forecast for doomsday. It was a laughing stock at the office.

The Icelandic attitude about volcanic eruptions ranges from proud to blasé. For example, in 1973, the Westman Islands off the south coast of Iceland experienced a volcanic eruption that covered a town in lava and ash. But to Westman Islanders this was no Vesuvius. Everyone knew how to deal with it, and evacuated safely. When it was over they came back, dug their town up, and moved back in.

Maybe it's kind of equivalent to Vancouverites' attitude toward the rain, except with molten lava and ash.