Scientists are racing to find out whether the rapid retreat of glaciers could drive a surge in eruptions as magma builds under the island nation — and if so, whether the same might occur at ice-covered volcanoes around the world, putting many lives at risk. Toxic sulphurous gas, carrying the telltale reek of rotten eggs, wafted through vents in the steep walls of Iceland’s Viti crater, while carbon dioxide bubbled to the surface of the milky blue crater lake. Veils of steam wreathed the landscape of loose rock in eerie half-light. Through this forbidding terrain – “Viti” is derived from the Icelandic for “hell” – Michelle Parks, a volcanologist with the Icelandic Meteorological Office, picked her way toward the water’s edge one day last August. With a monitor strapped...
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As the glowing river of lava from a volcano that erupted last month in Iceland ebbed, not everyone was happy. Hazel Lane, a 49-year-old dental practice manager in London, had booked a ticket to Reykjavik as soon as she saw footage of the eruption on television, hoping to witness spectacular lava flows beneath molten red skies. Lane had already visited Iceland the previous month, but it was too soon. Although authorities had by that time evacuated the nearly 4,000 inhabitants of the nearby town of Grindavik, weeks passed before the volcano - which lies about 40 km (25 miles) southwest of Reykjavik - erupted on Dec. 18. "I had a crazy notion of going to Reykjavik for the day to fly over the volcanic eruption," Lane said. She arrived with her son and his girlfriend on Dec. 22 to fin...
Read MoreThe devastating volcanic eruption on the island of La Palma may have a silver lining for one of Spain's poorest areas. Scenes of solidified walls of lava up to 70 metres high and gases still seeping from the crater are attracting tourists to the island, wanting to see for themselves the aftermath of an eruption that lasted 85 days. Demand for volcano-themed tours has soared and authorities are investing heavily in promoting La Palma, one of the less visited of the tourism-dependent Canary Islands, located off western Africa, to rebuild its economy. FILE PHOTO: Members of the INVOLCAN technical team walk through the ash of the Cumbre Vieja volcano as they head to the crater, in Cabeza de Vaca, on the Canary Island of La Palma, Spain, January 21, 2022. REUTERS/Borja Suarez But t...
Read MoreA volcano in Iceland spewing lava into the sky since it erupted last Friday could continue its spectacular display for years, potentially becoming a new tourist attraction on the island known for its natural wonders. Thousands of Icelanders have flocked to the site of the eruption on the Reykjanes Peninsula, some 30 kilometres southwest of the capital, hoping to be awed by the rare lava fountains and even to cook a meal on the scorching crust of magma. A view of the volcanic site on the Reykjanes Peninsula following Friday's eruption in Iceland March 23, 2021. REUTERS/Cat Gundry-Beck Drone footage filmed over the crater shows the molten lava bubbling and spurting, and gushing down the sides of the volcano. “It’s a perfect tourist eruption,” volcanology professor at the Univers...
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