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And these astonishing pictures, taken by British freelance photographer John Beatty, record the spectacular events which took place at the now-infamous Eyjafjallajoekull (Island-Mountain-Glacier) volcano in Iceland, and which have had such a dramatic aftermath.
Mr Beatty, 58, happened to be in Iceland’s glacier fields on an assignment to take pictures for an outdoor clothing company when he found himself at the centre of the awe-inspiring natural phenomenon.
Being that close was frightening but an incredible experience,’ he said. ‘I specialise in photographing wild, natural places. But an active volcano is one of the rarest and finest sights in the natural world. There were scarlet, yellow and pink pools with pulsating lava being hurled 500ft into the air and the volcano was showering rock across the surrounding ash and ice.
‘When I was close to the lava I got a sharp, foul taste at the back of my mouth, which told me the air was poisonous. We stayed close for only ten minutes at a time; any longer and we could have collapsed from lack of oxygen.’
Mr Beatty stayed 500ft from the fissures while the lava was flowing. But at one point he was able to get within 10ft of the lava when it cooled after a small earthquake temporarily closed the fissures.
The volcano first erupted on March 20. Mr Beatty, who was in Iceland with glacier guide Jon Magnussen, took his amazing pictures between April 4 and 12.
He left Iceland last Wednesday– on what would turn out to be oneof the very last flights out. Just 24 hours later the volcano sent up a 20,000ft-high cloud of ash, which drifted south and has now forced all British and many European airports to close.
Scientists believe the volcano may erupt again in the coming months.
Mr Beatty said: ‘I very much regret not being able to see the secondary explosion, although of course I was relieved to have been able to get home.’
This guy will become rich when he sells his pics and story to the media..
will AL Gore say now that this volcano is a cuz of global warming……?
Its in our hands but has nothing to do with Al, it has to do with our deeds…
Not worth being there, if the air is poisenes he is really endangering his lifen even years later cancer cells can form from being exposed.
To #1 . Rich and dead (from the poisonus air the idiot purposely inhaled).
what happens if you bomb a volcano?
Well, the recent volcanic activity is likely not associated with global warming, although geophysics is linked with the weather.
Global warming might however be the reason that the volcanic ash cloud went southeast instead of north, if wind currents during this time of year are supposed to be pushing north, I don’t know. The truth is that all things are linked, so it is not mutually exclusive so say that something is because of global warming or because of Hashem.
Pliny the elder, in Naturalis Historia, VII, XVI describes global warming and links it to earthquakes as being signs of the end of the world. This was a tradition amongst the ancient Greek philosophers from the school of Stoicism, and our own tradition mentions earthquakes as a sign (EZ 38-39).
Earthquakes and volcanic activity were considered one in the same until the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, in 79 CE., which can be seen from Pliny’s saying: in Creta terrae motu rupto monte inventum est corpus stans XLVI cubitorum, quod alii Orionis, alii Oti esse tradunt.”, that there was an earthquake in crete that tore open a mountain, leaving a stone pillar, which seems to be a description of a volcano.