Displaying items by tag: Iceland

On 18 December a volcano on the Reykjanes peninsula in south-west Iceland finally erupted, spewing glowing orange jets of lava surrounded by billowing clouds of red smoke. The population of Grindavík, a small fishing town nearby, had been evacuated in November after a series of small earthquakes. The government said the eruption did not present a threat to life; there were no disruptions to flights to and from Iceland, as this type of eruption does not usually produce much ash. Icelandic police have warned tourists to ‘think four times’ before attempting to get close to the eruption, after they had to rescue an exhausted hiker by helicopter. Iceland’s president, Guðni Jóhannesson, said: ‘Our priorities remain to protect lives and infrastructure. We wait to see what the forces of nature have in store. We are prepared and remain vigilant.’ The meteorological office said on 20 December that the power, seismicity and deformation of the eruption had decreased.

Experts have warned of a potential volcanic eruption near the town of Grindavik, which could lead to extensive destruction or ash clouds. This concern follows over 800 small earthquakes in the region, indicating possible activity from a volcano on the Reykjanes peninsula in southwest Iceland. Nearly 4,000 residents of the town were evacuated amid fears that molten rock could surface, threatening the town and a nearby geothermal power station. Scientists from the Icelandic Met Office have warned of a prolonged period of volcanic instability on the peninsula, possibly lasting decades, with eruptions expected in various locations. On 15 November, Thorvaldur Thordarson, a volcanology professor, assessed the probability of an eruption at 30%, a decrease from earlier higher estimates. Despite fears of an impending volcanic eruption, flights in and out of Keflavik international airport, only ten miles from the eruption site, are continuing as usual. In 2010 another volcano in Iceland grabbed the world's attention by spewing ash into the atmosphere and bringing European air travel to a halt.

Lava flowed from a volcano on the Reykjanes peninsula on 28 March, prompting the evacuation of hundreds of tourists. Then on 5 April a new 100- to 500-metre fissure opened half a mile north of the original crevice. Drone footage shows lava rivers feeding a larger lava flow pouring into a nearby valley. After weeks of seismic activity and over 50,000 tremors, the volcanic eruptions started near Fagradalsfjall mountain which has been dormant for 6,000 years. The current fissures are the first experienced on the peninsula in 800 years. In the first days a 600- to 700-metre-long fissure began ejecting lava. Now a cone with two open volcanic vents is ejecting lava at a constant rate of four to five metres every three seconds. The area is mostly uninhabited and 19 miles from Reykjavík, the capital and largest city of Iceland.

Iceland’s largest fishing company, Samherji, exploited legal loopholes and secrecy jurisdictions to enable corruption and environmental exploitation on a global scale. It used an anonymous shell company to launder and transfer 70 million dollars’ worth of illegal fishing activities off the coasts of West Africa, and bribed members of the Namibian government. Two Namibian ministers have already resigned over allegedly giving preferential access to fishing grounds. Samherji used shell companies in Dubai, Mauritius and Cyprus. Most of the money was traced to a bank account at a state-owned bank: the bank’s largest shareholder is the Norwegian state, which holds a 34% stake.

President Trump publicly doubted Theresa May's Brexit plan: ‘I think we have to take a look seriously whether or not the UK is allowed to trade with us’. The British parliament will vote on the withdrawal agreement on 11 December. Jean-Claude Juncker warned MPs planning to send May back to Brussels by voting down her Brexit deal that it would take the EU just ‘seconds’ to crush their hopes. President Macron said that the UK will be trapped in a customs union after Brexit, unless Downing Street offers European fishermen full access to British waters during the trade negotiations. However, Iceland’s foreign minister said, ‘The British could learn from Iceland when it comes to creating a new fisheries policy after Brexit’ (see). We can pray for God to ignite political wisdom and accurate insights in all politicians and media commentators. Pray also for inspired visions and purposes to be birthed in captains of commerce and industry.

The only Baptist pastor in Rekjavik doesn’t want Down's syndrome eliminated. ‘My family has spent a lot of time at the hospital. For over a year our five-year-old son has been undergoing chemotherapy for leukaemia. Our youngest son, born this April, also spent two months at the hospital as doctors ran tests on him, finding a genetic mutation in his X chromosome that only two other people in the world have been diagnosed with. Every day, as I walked into the intensive care unit at the hospital, I looked over a wall of pictures of young children and teenagers holding up photos of themselves as premature babies. They were born after as little as 21 or 22 weeks of pregnancy.’ Meanwhile, there is talk of new legislation which would make abortion available in the 22nd week of pregnancy. Recently this issue took the internet by storm, with a report on how the country (population 340,000) is on the verge of eliminating Down’s syndrome.