Iceland's Most Active Volcano Erupts

Iceland's most active volcano has started erupting while experts say it is unlikely to disturb European air traffic. The Grimsvotn volcano, located under the uninhabited Vatnajokull glacier in Iceland's southeast, began erupting with a series of small earthquakes on Saturday, sending as much as 15 kilometres of white smoke into the air, Iceland's Meteorological Office said. "It can be a big eruption, but it is unlikely to be like last year," Hjorleifur Sveinbjornsson, a geologist at the Meteorological Office, told Reuters news agency, referring to the April 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano. Last year's Eyjafjallajokul eruption kept some 10 million air travelers in limbo worldwide for five days, after winds pushed the volcanic ash cloud toward some of the world's busiest airspace and led most northern European countries to ground all planes. The Grimsvotn's previous eruptions have lasted between a day and several weeks, it's last being in 2004. Scientists have been expecting a new eruption and have said that this volcano's eruption will likely be small and should not lead to air travel chaos. But whether widespread disruption occurs again will depend on how long the eruption lasts, how high the ash plume rises and which way the wind blows. Isavia, the company that operates and develops all airport facilities and air navigation services in Iceland, enforced a no-fly zone for 120 nautical miles (220 kilometres) in all directions from the eruption. An Isavia spokeswoman described this as standard procedure around eruptions. "The plume of smoke has reached jet flying altitude and plans have been made for planes flying through Icelandic air control space to fly southwardly tonight,'' Hjordis Gudmundsdottir, the spokeswoman, said. A plane from the Icelandic Coast Guard carrying experts from the University of Iceland will fly over the volcano and evaluate the situation.

Now the timing for this volcanic eruption is significant especially as USA and the EU are now trying to pressure Israel to give up land to the Palestinians and revert to the pre-1967 war borders which the Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu had flatly rejected. Will the EU continue with its pressures and if so, I believe the eruptions will intensify but if they relent and ease off, I believe we may see the activities simmer off.

Certainly we need to remember what the Lord had promised Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3: (English Standard Version)

v1  Now the Lord said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.

v2  And I will make of you a great nation. and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

v3  I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

Sometimes I wonder why the world leaders never read those three verses and think through their actions before they start to come against Israel. As a friend once said, "you touch the apple of God's eye, you will pay the price for your actions."  So, lets watch the world stage and see the hand of God at work in our midst.