Stuff: Kiwi volcanologist’s disaster study gets real

Michael Fox writes for Stuff about GNS volcanologist David Johnston, who is stranded in London as a result of the eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano.

Johnston and 25 other scientists had been attending a disaster planning meeting when they found they were actually involved in one.

An excerpt: (read in full here)

“Volcanologists and disaster planners had long speculated about the impact of an eruption in Iceland, believing its effect would be significant, but the research had garnered little attention, he said.

“The Eyjafjallajokull eruption was relatively small but a “perfect storm” of weather conditions – a high over Europe, which was also downwind from Iceland – meant the ash cloud didn’t disperse and blanketed the entire continent.”