Kronka

Ashes to ashes.

In the past, our lovely little Icelandic volcano has erupted for months at a time—albeit at subdued levels, likely not to produce airplane-grounding levels of atmospheric ash.

Which makes me wonder.

We’re lucky that our planet doesn’t normally spew enormous amounts of particulate matter into the air. I mean, in the grand scheme of things, Earth is pretty stable. We take for granted the fact that we can just fly anywhere, anytime.

What if, however, this wasn’t the case? What if, for example, every so often a volcano would pop up and render a region inaccessible by plane, perhaps for months? Southeast Asia this fall, North America next winter. How different our perception of travel would be. How would our global culture have developed differently? (Ignoring, say, long-term health effects and possible technological solutions—e.g. do turboprop planes work in ash? and the airships of yesteryear?)

Alternatively, what if the current volcano was a lasting thing? (On the scale of, say, decades.) Would the economy and culture of Europe (or whatever poor region) be thoroughly decimated without the convenience and power of flight? How dependent, really, are we, on air travel?

What a bizarre world that would be.

Photo credit: NASA.