by Dicky Mint

Created on: April 16, 2010   Last Updated: April 17, 2010

I have always admired people who live in the vicinity of Volcanoes. They are always living in fear of an imminent eruption, yet they continue about their everyday lives as if it is nothing to worry about, in fact some of these people probably think that it is still more dangerous to cross the road than live near a Volcano!

My mind then drifts off to think about all the technological advancements, and medical leaps, how we now have the ability to accurately predict weather patterns.

I then think that as a race, we start to become complacent with our surroundings, becoming comfortable and content with what we have, and what we have achieved. Then we get a wake up call that brings us back to earth with a jolt.

I feel that this is the case in Iceland at the moment where the Eyjafjallajokull glacier near Reykjavík has once again reminded us that Mother Earth is firmly in control of our planet, and not the human race, regardless of what we think!

How do we know if the Volcanic eruption in Iceland is a big one or not?

Whereas the Richter scale measures seismic activity and the strength of an earthquake, scientists have the ability to measure the Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) of a volcano, and rank it accordingly.

The measurement is based on how much material and debris is thrown out of the volcano during the eruption, how high the plume stretches, and how long the eruption lasts.

To put this into perspective, Pinatubo's boom in the Philippines erupted in 1991, this happens once every 50 to 100 years, which registered a VEI of about 5 or 6. By contrast, the eruption of Mount St Helens, in the north-west of the US in May 1980, was a one-in-10-year event, with a VEI of about 4.

Like the scale used to measure earthquake size, the VEI is logarithmic - this means that a volcano which has a VEI of 5 is 10 times more powerful than that of a volcanic eruption which has been registered as a 4.

Due to Eyjafjallajokull still being active, scientists have not been able to gather enough data to calculate the VEI yet, but early estimations are indicating that the magnitude of this eruption will be calculated around a 2 or a 3, as volcanic eruptions go the event in Iceland is classed as a small one.

So if the eruption in Iceland is classed as a baby, why is it causing so much havoc across Europe?

Well this boils down to where the wind blows. The last time a volcano erupted in Iceland during 2004, the cloud of ash from Grimsvotn blew north. However, this time the plume of

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