Alaskan Volcano erupts 5 times overnight.

[SirNitram]

Link

Alaska's Mt. Redoubt volcano erupted five times overnight, throwing ash as high as 60,000 feet into the air, threatening air travel and raising health risks in some sparsely populated areas.

It was the first eruption of the 10,200-foot Redoubt, about 100 miles from Anchorage, since 1989, when the volcano erupted for four months.

In a telephone interview, Chris Waythomas, a geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Anchorage, said it looked like the current eruption could follow the same pattern as the previous incident.

"It looks very similar to 1989-90," Waythomas said. "We anticipate activity will go on for some days, weeks, and maybe months."

The plume, or ash thrust into the air, has climbed 40,000 to 60,000 feet and was threatening parts of the Susitna Valley, an area of few people that is known for its excellent fishing. The town of Skwenta, population about 50, was likely to see ash fall, he said.

Ash is a well-known abrasive and can cause problems for those with respiratory problems such as asthma. It can harm the skin as well as exposed machine parts.

But the worst of the impact is likely to miss Anchorage because the winds were blowing away from the city, Waythomas said.

The biggest effect was likely to be on air travel. Nineteen civilian flights have already been canceled, Waythomas said.

In addition, the Air Force said 60 planes, including jet fighters, were being sheltered at Elmendorf Air Force Base outside Anchorage.

The first eruption, in an area across Cook Inlet from the Kenai Peninsula, occurred at 10:38 p.m. Sunday and the most recent was at 4:30 a.m. local time today, according to the Alaska Volcano Observatory.

Mt. Redoubt has erupted in 1902, 1966 and 1989, when ash was thrown as high as 45,000 feet. Ash was sent 150 miles away into the path of a KLM jet and its four engines flamed out. The crew managed to restart the engines and land safely but the craft needed $80 million in repairs.

The observatory warned in late January that an eruption could occur at any time as earthquake activity in the area increased.

[Surlethe]

I'd be interested in seeing what this does for climate projections. Nothing in the long run, certainly, but since volcanic eruptions are nicely modeled as random events, I'd think it would depress projections significantly over the next year or two.

[El Moose Monstero]

If only I could get my hands on some pristine ash from this one - or maybe breakout my fieldwork grant. I could go for a trip to Alaska about now.

[Ekiqa]

I'd be interested in seeing what this does for climate projections. Nothing in the long run, certainly, but since volcanic eruptions are nicely modeled as random events, I'd think it would depress projections significantly over the next year or two.

Considering most climate projections are overly optimistic, I think this will have no affect on them at all.

[Rahvin]

Clearly Bobby Jindal was right - we shouldn't be wasting money on "volcano monitoring," whatever that means.

[Rogue 9]

Clearly Bobby Jindal was right - we shouldn't be wasting money on "volcano monitoring," whatever that means.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-eBqthOvi0

For those who aren't clear on what Rahvin is referring to.

[Alyeska]

Thank god my Mom got out. She works as a CPA and even after we moved from Alaska her clients basically told her that she wasn't getting away so easily. So she still travels up to Alaska every few months. She flew out of Anchorage less then 24 hours before the volcano erupted. She was in Bush Alaska less then 48 hours before it erupted. Thank goodness she got out when she did.

[LMSx]

Much like how it took Nixon to go to China, I guess it took a Louisiana governor to decry spending to prevent natural disasters. I hope Jindal's forced to answer questions about whether this is wasteful pork.

[The Yosemite Bear]

yeah, no one needs to observe the natural world, just reley on blind faith, and dogma.

oh yeah and somewhere in this there's a bad joke about lack of virgins for sacrifice....

[Akumz Razor]

This is a bit off topic, but I'm currently reading about John W. Powell, and find it disturbingly ironic that Congress used his subordinates' volcano studies as an example of "wasteful spending" when they sought to slash his department's funding & coerce him into resigning. There was also a lot of talk regarding "rugged individualism" when rejecting his proposal for massive irrigation projects in the arid west.

Sometimes I really find it hard to believe that these blowhards are spouting literally the same shit over one hundred years later

...and now back to lurking...

[The Duchess of Zeon]

Thank god my Mom got out. She works as a CPA and even after we moved from Alaska her clients basically told her that she wasn't getting away so easily. So she still travels up to Alaska every few months. She flew out of Anchorage less then 24 hours before the volcano erupted. She was in Bush Alaska less then 48 hours before it erupted. Thank goodness she got out when she did.

Are there still flights out of Fairbanks? Since I guess the alternative would be to take the train up there and fly out if so, though that would rather be an adventure.

[Patrick Degan]

This is a bit off topic, but I'm currently reading about John W. Powell, and find it disturbingly ironic that Congress used his subordinates' volcano studies as an example of "wasteful spending" when they sought to slash his department's funding & coerce him into resigning. There was also a lot of talk regarding "rugged individualism" when rejecting his proposal for massive irrigation projects in the arid west.

Sometimes I really find it hard to believe that these blowhards are spouting literally the same shit over one hundred years later...

Righties literally cannot picture in their minds this whole concept of "the future" —consumed as they are with their grand project to either freeze the present into an eternal moment, or revive a past which either a)is dead or b)never existed in the first place (that is, when they're not simply waiting for the Rapture). That's how a piece of work like Piyush can argue that volcano monitoring and flood-control projects for his own state are a "waste of money" and babble about "rugged individualism".

[Rahvin]

This is a bit off topic, but I'm currently reading about John W. Powell, and find it disturbingly ironic that Congress used his subordinates' volcano studies as an example of "wasteful spending" when they sought to slash his department's funding & coerce him into resigning. There was also a lot of talk regarding "rugged individualism" when rejecting his proposal for massive irrigation projects in the arid west.

Sometimes I really find it hard to believe that these blowhards are spouting literally the same shit over one hundred years later...

Righties literally cannot picture in their minds this whole concept of "the future" —consumed as they are with their grand project to either freeze the present into an eternal moment, or revive a past which either a)is dead or b)never existed in the first place (that is, when they're not simply waiting for the Rapture). That's how a piece of work like Piyush can argue that volcano monitoring and flood-control projects for his own state are a "waste of money" and babble about "rugged individualism".

"The future" is when Jeebus comes back for the Rapture, so it doesn't matter anyway.

/fundy

[Alyeska]

Thank god my Mom got out. She works as a CPA and even after we moved from Alaska her clients basically told her that she wasn't getting away so easily. So she still travels up to Alaska every few months. She flew out of Anchorage less then 24 hours before the volcano erupted. She was in Bush Alaska less then 48 hours before it erupted. Thank goodness she got out when she did.

Are there still flights out of Fairbanks? Since I guess the alternative would be to take the train up there and fly out if so, though that would rather be an adventure.

I do not know. Its possible. Fairbanks should be out of the range and they can divert around the ash clouds. Had she been caught, she might have considered it. Though my Mom has plenty of friends in Anchorage, so she most likely would have waited it out.

[Patrick Degan]

This is a bit off topic, but I'm currently reading about John W. Powell, and find it disturbingly ironic that Congress used his subordinates' volcano studies as an example of "wasteful spending" when they sought to slash his department's funding & coerce him into resigning. There was also a lot of talk regarding "rugged individualism" when rejecting his proposal for massive irrigation projects in the arid west.

Sometimes I really find it hard to believe that these blowhards are spouting literally the same shit over one hundred years later...

Righties literally cannot picture in their minds this whole concept of "the future" —consumed as they are with their grand project to either freeze the present into an eternal moment, or revive a past which either a)is dead or b)never existed in the first place (that is, when they're not simply waiting for the Rapture). That's how a piece of work like Piyush can argue that volcano monitoring and flood-control projects for his own state are a "waste of money" and babble about "rugged individualism".

"The future" is when Jeebus comes back for the Rapture, so it doesn't matter anyway.

/fundy

Not such a joke considering James Watt once said something very like that.

[Rahvin]

"The future" is when Jeebus comes back for the Rapture, so it doesn't matter anyway.

/fundy

Not such a joke considering James Watt once said something very like that.

I know. That's exactly who I was thinking of. Frightening, isn't it?

[Alyrium Denryle]

Thank god my Mom got out. She works as a CPA and even after we moved from Alaska her clients basically told her that she wasn't getting away so easily. So she still travels up to Alaska every few months. She flew out of Anchorage less then 24 hours before the volcano erupted. She was in Bush Alaska less then 48 hours before it erupted. Thank goodness she got out when she did.

Are there still flights out of Fairbanks? Since I guess the alternative would be to take the train up there and fly out if so, though that would rather be an adventure.

I do not know. Its possible. Fairbanks should be out of the range and they can divert around the ash clouds. Had she been caught, she might have considered it. Though my Mom has plenty of friends in Anchorage, so she most likely would have waited it out.

I kn ow fairbanks has an airport, but yeah I am not sure if the ash cloud is getting that far. Though the Ted Stevens airport is still open. They just have to divert flights around the north-bound ash

[Darth Wong]

Righties literally cannot picture in their minds this whole concept of "the future" —consumed as they are with their grand project to either freeze the present into an eternal moment, or revive a past which either a)is dead or b)never existed in the first place (that is, when they're not simply waiting for the Rapture). That's how a piece of work like Piyush can argue that volcano monitoring and flood-control projects for his own state are a "waste of money" and babble about "rugged individualism".

They can picture the future; the problem is that they fear the future is a tyrannical dystopia where liberals run society with an iron grip, and jack-booted Gestapo march around forcing people at gunpoint to wear seatbelts, stop polluting the environment, eat healthier foods, stop smoking cigarettes, give up their private arsenals, drive smaller cars, support social welfare programs, and treat lesser races and homosexuals as equals.

In other words, they treasure their God-given right to act without regard for health, the environment, or other peoples' feelings, and they are terrified of the idea of a society where such behaviour is no longer accepted. So they try to equate it to Nazism, and they do everything in their power to make sure that this horrible future never comes into being.