From the authors of the award-winning book, Disappearing Destinations.

See it. Save it. The world isn't waiting.

23rd March 2010

Photo

More than 300 residents of a town in southern Iceland could soon find themselves in the path of major floods caused by a nearby volcanic eruption.  A scientist at the University of Iceland told Reuters that the volcanic activity, which started late Saturday night, could trigger a massive eruption at the nearby Mount Katla. Because Katla lies beneath a glacier, the resulting melt-off could be devastating.   Hundreds of residents have been evacuated and flights have been diverted while scientists monitor the situation.  The Eyjafjallajoekull volcano had been dormant for 200 years. Photo by AP photographer Ragnar Axelsson (via National Geographic). — KL

More than 300 residents of a town in southern Iceland could soon find themselves in the path of major floods caused by a nearby volcanic eruption. 

A scientist at the University of Iceland told Reuters that the volcanic activity, which started late Saturday night, could trigger a massive eruption at the nearby Mount Katla. Because Katla lies beneath a glacier, the resulting melt-off could be devastating.  

Hundreds of residents have been evacuated and flights have been diverted while scientists monitor the situation. 

The Eyjafjallajoekull volcano had been dormant for 200 years.

Photo by AP photographer Ragnar Axelsson (via National Geographic).

— KL