Icelandic volcanoes can inflict the whole world

When a volcano in Iceland operated in 1783, many people in Britain died of poison gas, failing crops in Europe caused famine to spread and temperatures in the US to a record low.

Columns of lava and ash rose from Eyjafjallajokull volcano in southern Iceland on March 22 after the ground shook due to several minor seismic attacks. That fact makes many people worried that the nearby Katla volcano will also be awakened.

According to the AP, Eyjafjallajokull volcano has slept for nearly 200 years and suddenly woke up on March 20, leaving at least 500 people evacuated. Most of them have returned home, but officials are waiting for scientific evaluations to see if they should continue evacuating people. People in 14 farms near the most volcanic mountain are warned not to go home.

The scientific community said that the history once proved when Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupted, the nearby Katla volcano will also operate. Due to the proximity of the giant ice Myrdalsjokull, Katla volcano can cause widespread flooding and the sound of the sky exploding when it works.

Iceland lies on the Atlantic volcanic belt. Historically the Icelandic people have witnessed many intense volcanoes. Volcanoes are often erupted by geological activity when the tectonic plates move and molten rock from the underground surface rises to the surface.

Like earthquakes, it is impossible to predict the exact time of volcanic eruption. However, if Katla volcano erupts, it will have unpredictable consequences for Iceland and many other countries.

Photo of Eyjafjallajokull volcano in the early morning of March 21.Photo: AP .

AP said, the volcanic Latki erupted in 1783. The huge amount of gas that it spewed into mist. This mist follows the air masses up the stratosphere and changes the weather. Many people were killed by gas poisoning in the UK. Food production plummeted in Western Europe, leading to widespread famine. Some scholars also argue that the hunger after the eruption of the Latki volcano was one of the reasons leading to the French revolution in 1787.

The winter of 1784 was also one of the longest and coldest winters in North American history. Many documents recorded the temperature in New England, the US fell below the negative level, while the state of New Jersey, the US has a record layer of snow. The Mississippi River also freezes in the city of New Orleans.

Colin Macpherson, a geologist at the University of Durham in England, said the events were like many Hollywood films that could happen if the Latki volcano was active.

There are three places where volcanoes often occur: along geological fault lines, along areas where tectonic plates pass through each other and in places where two tectonic plates move far apart. Iceland is on the position of the third category.

When the volcanic eruptions of the Pacific Seismic Belt erupted, the lava below spilled slowly, so scientists could predict the time when the volcano erupted. But the volcanoes in Iceland are different, because the molten rock in the ground soars up from the ice, so the volcano erupts very quickly and scientists cannot predict it.

Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson, a geologist from the University of Iceland, said the previous eruptions of Katla volcano had caused floods of the size of the Amazon forest. It also pushed the stones of the house to the valleys and roads. The latest eruption of Katla volcano occurred in 1918. Only about an hour after the floods appeared.

Katla eruptions are a threat to people living nearby. Fortunately, most Icelanders - about 320,000 people - live in Reykjavik and the western region.

Southern Iceland has a low population density but has glaciers and volatile volcanoes. This is a terrifying combination.

The last time a volcano erupted from the Eyjafjallajokull glacier occurred in 1821. That volcano has been operating continuously for two years.