News: Airspace Opens Over Europe

As Eyjafjallajokull starts to weaken, airspace all over Europe has begun to open. Good news for stranded travelers, though the backlog means that many will still be stuck where they are for at least for a few more days. At a concert in London last night, Amanda Palmer sang a newly minted song about being separated from her fiance, the author Neil Gaiman, due to the volcanic ash. The chorus ended with the ironic lyric, “How dare we not have total control over the earth,” a truth that many passengers in her same predicament had to laugh at (though most would not be able to solve the singer’s problem quite the same way, Gaiman chartered a transatlantic jet to Europe to be with her). Lost luggage is one thing but volcano eruption is a whole ‘nother bag of tricks.
 
According to the aviation industry, airlines are lost over $200 million a day due to Eyjafjallajokull but are we all clear yet? There are reports that Eyjafjallajokull’s neighbor Mt. Katla has been disturbed and could be next to erupt. And according to NPR, Earth could see another large-scale, near cataclysmic eruption in the not so distant future. Well, in geological terms that is. Experts say that Yellow Stone National Park is set to blow and will devastate the Northern Hemisphere. But good news, it won’t be happening for at least the next quarter of a million years and scientists say not to worry, humans will be long gone by then anyway. Oh wait, is that good news?
 
Last week, we told you that The Scream’s colorful background was inspired by Krakatoa but did you know that Lord Byron wrote all his most depressing poetry during those dark and cold summer days the volcano’s eruption caused in 1883? Mary Shelley too, who was staying with Byron at the time, was said to be so depressed that she wrote the beginnings of Frankenstein.