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Fears for the town of Iceland after a new eruption

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A volcanic eruption has commenced in southwest Iceland, prompting the evacuation of the renowned Blue Lagoon spa and the fishing town of Grindavik. The new fissure, which is over 2.5 km (1.5 miles) long and growing, opened near Sundhnuksgigar on the Reykjanes Peninsula, marking the fifth eruption in the region since December.

The Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) reported the fissure’s significant length, while authorities declared a state of emergency. Despite the severity, air travel to and from Iceland remains unaffected. Grindavik’s mayor, Fannar Jónasson, expressed concern about the substantial volume of lava advancing toward the town, surpassing previous eruptions in magnitude. As a safety measure, energy provider HS Veitur cut off power to Grindavik.

Local media reported that three individuals refused to evacuate. Authorities strongly urged all residents and visitors to leave Grindavik and move to a safe distance. Currently, only one road out of the town remains accessible.

Dramatic footage from the eruption site showed molten rock spewing up to 50 meters high and extensive ash clouds darkening the sky. Benjamin Hardman, a natural history cinematographer documenting Iceland’s volcanoes, described the experience as surreal.

Officials noted the magma intrusion is nearing Grindavik, and the Svartsengi power plant, crucial for providing electricity and water to the peninsula, has also been evacuated. Barriers have been erected to shield the power plant, Grindavik, and the Blue Lagoon from lava flows.

Despite the eruption, Keflavik International Airport continues normal operations. Prior to the eruption on Wednesday, “intense earthquake activity” was recorded. Geophysicist Ari Trausti Gudmundsson indicated that scientists had anticipated this eruption.

Most of Grindavik’s 4,000 residents were evacuated permanently in November, following eruptions over the past months that saw lava inundate the town’s streets in January, destroying three homes. Some residents had returned to safer neighborhoods.

Iceland, located on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, has 33 active volcanic systems. The last significant volcanic activity on the Reykjanes Peninsula occurred 800 years ago, lasting for decades. Since 2021, this marks the eighth eruption, suggesting the area might be entering a prolonged volcanic period that could span decades or centuries.

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Russian passenger plane lands on frozen river by mistake

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A Soviet-era Antonov An-24 belonging to Polar Airlines mistakenly landed on a frozen river in Russia’s Far East with 34 people on board. Fortunately, the incident, attributed to pilot error according to initial inquiries, occurred without any injuries. The aircraft, en route from Yakutsk to Zyryanka with subsequent stops, veered off the Zyryanka airport runway during its landing.

The flight, designated PI217, commenced its journey early Thursday from Yakutsk, the capital of the Sakha republic. Intending to reach Zyryanka, the plane was scheduled to proceed to Srednekolymsk before returning to Yakutsk. The mishap took place not far from the airport, where the frozen River Kolyma served as an unplanned landing site.

Video footage captured by a passenger revealed the aircraft positioned nearly at the center of the frozen river in eastern Siberia, where temperatures in Zyryanka can drop to approximately -40°C during this season. Prosecutors reported that the plane touched down on a sandbank in the river, and the duration of its slide on the snow was evident from the trail left behind.

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France bans short-haul flights to cut carbon emissions

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The French government has implemented a ban on domestic short-haul flights in situations where there are train alternatives available, as part of its efforts to reduce carbon emissions. This law took effect two years after lawmakers initially voted to end routes where the same journey could be completed by train within two-and-a-half hours. As a result, air travel between cities like Paris, Nantes, Lyon, and Bordeaux will be largely prohibited, while connecting flights are not affected by the ban.

Critics of the measure have referred to it as merely a symbolic gesture. Laurent Donceel, the interim head of the industry group Airlines for Europe (A4E), expressed his belief that these bans would only have minimal effects on reducing CO2 emissions. He suggested that governments should instead focus on supporting more substantial and practical solutions to address the issue.

The global airline industry has already experienced significant setbacks due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the number of flights in 2020 decreasing by almost 42% compared to 2019, as reported by Flightradar24.

Initially, France’s Citizens’ Convention on Climate, formed by President Emmanuel Macron in 2019 and consisting of 150 members of the public, proposed eliminating plane journeys where train alternatives of under four hours were available. However, this limit was reduced to two-and-a-half hours following objections from certain regions and the airline Air France-KLM.

French consumer group UFC-Que Choisir had previously urged lawmakers to maintain the four-hour limit, highlighting that planes emit 77 times more CO2 per passenger than trains on these routes, despite trains being cheaper and the time difference being only 40 minutes. The group also called for safeguards to prevent the French national railway company, SNCF, from raising prices artificially or diminishing the quality of rail services.

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