Illustrations by Andrea Kearney

So. The volcano came; spewed copious amounts of ash and nasties into the atmosphere, dominated our headlines, whipped twitter into a frenzy and rudely obstructed our travel plans. But as quickly as it barged into our consciousness, it disappeared again. Our attention has now turned to making it through the vomiting political sales pitching of the general election and booking our summer holidays.

It is odd that such an obscure word penetrated the nations consciousness in the first place. Eyjafjallajokul. Ey- jaf- alla- jokul. Initially I didn’t even believe in its existence. A huge practical joke, dreamed up by some adolescent work experience office monkey in an Icelandic weather station, compelled by a dare from his friends. Surely. And then I was furious with it, for grounding friends and family who really deserved their holiday. But then I thought again.

Ash and Lightning Above an Icelandic Volcano
Credit & Copyright: Marco Fulle

Those who wouldn’t normally give a second thought to nature, looked up and remarked at the beautiful skies, and marvelled at mother nature. Photographers everywhere must have melted in an orgasmic spasm of pleasure. There was no visible trace of the ash and grime reportedly being pumped into our air space, but the presence of Mount Eyjafjallajokul could be felt all over the UK and beyond. It was then reported that 1.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide were saved as nearly 70,000 flights were grounded over 4 days. This volcano was more than a pretty face. More carbon was saved in those 4 days than most developing countries produce in a year. Yowzers.

Diagram from Information is Beautiful

Obnoxious to our travel plans as it was, it cannot be denied that it forced us to look at the world and our lifestyles differently, and realise with a slightly sickly taste in the back of our throats how completely and wholly dependent we are on overseas goods and services. It suddenly became important to ensure the availability of high speed and reliable trains, coaches and ferries. Demand for video conferencing skyrocketed and businesses realised it is possible to find alternatives to air travel.

The volcano eruption paraded a brief but vivid vision of a potential future. A quieter world where food and flowers cannot be flown here from distant shores at our whim, where people rely on their local economies for food, or grow their own instead. Where business is facilitated over video links, instead of aviation. Where train, coach and ferry travel are the norm and where people holiday closer to home. Where we no longer take the natural world for granted. Where we respect the environmental limitations of the planet we live on.

But I am not about to lose myself in a utopian, grow it yourself, plane free day dream. Obviously there are negative affects too. I’m certainly not inviting its brothers, sisters, mothers and uncle’s to start kicking up a fuss and erupting all over us too. No. A world of constant volcanic eruptions would not be a pretty one. The economic impacts are untold and the impact on 3rd world producers could be huge.

But, you have to admit it. Eyjafjallajokul has humbled us. Although all visions of a plane- free future have long gone, It highlighted the fragility of the systems on which we depend and showed us an alternative way of life. And it has reminded us that Mother nature is totally and mind fuckingly awesome.

Written by Hannah Bullivant on Friday April 30th, 2010 10:28 am

Tags:

Andrea Kearney, carbon, Eyjafjallajokul, Holidays, iceland, nature, sustainability, Volcano

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