humans vs volcano

I agree with owlwings that we are too dependent on air travel - and on cheap airtravel at that. Perhaps now we will reconsider how we transport food from the other side of the world by air instead of eating seasonally and supporting local farmers. As has been said, the Icelandic volcano is comparitively small, what would be really devastating would be if one of the supervolcanos went up because the destruction would be phenomenal.

It's never a good thing to panic! Yes, of course we should be concerned about volcanoes (and other large natural events) but panic usually generates illogical and inappropriate actions. The first thing to do is to minimise the effect on ourselves, our livestock and our crops (if we are farmers). We can move ourselves, our possessions and our livestock. Unfortunately, we can't move crops or buildings and these may be lost (if we live close to the volcano). The first thing to do is to save our own lives and then to save what we can of our possessions. Volcanoes, earthquakes, storms and tsunamis are often very destructive and many people may lose their lives, possessions or become destitute. We can't do anything about stopping these disasters but we can, at least, be aware of where and when they are most likely to happen and take evasive or protective action. The Icelandic volcano is really quite a small affair in the general perspective of things. The fact that it has had a far greater impact on air travel than 9/11 merely underlines the fact that 'civilisation' has come to depend too much on a very fragile and expensive mode of transport. Perhaps we need to rethink our whole lifestyle.