Beware of the Volcanic ash

[obi_waynne]

Just a heads up really, this cloud of Volcanic ash that is drifting over the UK is going at some point to land.

I can't imagine this sort of thing is going to do your paintwork much good. (if anyone knows for sure please pipe up!)

I'd be tempted to wash and wax the car now and then just rinse of the ashy dust as it settles.

(What do you think the wider implications of this volcanic eruption are?)

 

[HDi fun]

Just a heads up really, this cloud of Volcanic ash that is drifting over the UK is going at some point to land.

I can't imagine this sort of thing is going to do your paintwork much good. (if anyone knows for sure please pipe up!)

I'd be tempted to wash and wax the car now and then just rinse of the ashy dust as it settles.

(What do you think the wider implications of this volcanic eruption are?)

None really. Volcanos have ben around for billions of years. It's a simple part of the ecosystem on Earth,

 

[obi_waynne]

I was thinking more about our air filters, induction systems, road grip and the like.

But ok then, for really wide implications, try this for a scenario. When this volcanoe erupts there is another larger one that erupts nearby. The last time this happened we are looking at a 3 year long eruption. Potentially we could be without flights over the UK for a long time! A lot of our food is flown in (apparently!) so this could affect food supply and will certainly impact on anything you want to ship in an express manner!

 

[prevtec]

a good wax will protect your car, as waynne then says, wash off any ash

watching air crash investagation 1 night, i know why all flights are grounded

 

[Hansi]

The key is to have a good wax on and then just rinse the ash off, do not use spunge or anything that makes contact to your car or it will ruin your paint. After the ash has been clensed off then you can use the sponge.

 

[HDi fun]

I was thinking more about our air filters, induction systems, road grip and the like.

But ok then, for really wide implications, try this for a scenario. When this volcanoe erupts there is another larger one that erupts nearby. The last time this happened we are looking at a 3 year long eruption. Potentially we could be without flights over the UK for a long time! A lot of our food is flown in (apparently!) so this could affect food supply and will certainly impact on anything you want to ship in an express manner!

And how stupid are we in the UK to become dependent upon overseas food sources?

There's plenty of agricultural land in this country. The supermarkets need to trim their margins a bit and make it cost effective for us, as consumers, and for the farming community.

 

[lutonmatt]

a good wax will protect your car, as waynne then says, wash off any ash

watching air crash investagation 1 night, i know why all flights are grounded

ya i watched that one as well do like to watch them sometimes

 

[wolfmankurd]

And how stupid are we in the UK to become dependent upon overseas food sources?

There's plenty of agricultural land in this country. The supermarkets need to trim their margins a bit and make it cost effective for us, as consumers, and for the farming community.

Supermarkets should be made to do anything they are there to make money, if you want to stop them using foreign sources tax it. My personal opinion is you no good comes from messing with an economy in most circumstances (that doesn't mean it shouldn't be done) but whatever we do we'd be creating a false economy which would eventually collapse.

But that's really off topic. Well I don't see anything in the air so I assumed it was really fine dust still don't get why they closed all the airports if the dust is so fine you can't see it? Unless it hasn't reached yet in which case surely they still have time for some flights via albeit convoluted routes.

 

[WLBjork]

This country hasn't been able to feed itself for a long time.

Think back to WW2 and rationing.

Since then, the problem has only got worse. There is no way to feed 60m people on the amount of agricultural land that we have.

 

[obi_waynne]

With farmers getting paid to plough apples and crops back into the ground I just wonder what the agricultural policy is!

We are now growing crops for bio fuel. A single fuel tank of bio fuel takes enough food that could comfortably feed a man for a year!

The answer is that we grow our own www.fruitandvegsuccess.co.uk !

 

[pgarner]

there is much land that by EU regs has to be left alone to grow grass nothing else. and the farmers get paid to do this simply because the there is too much food grown throught europe


as for the air. its up higher in the air and will look more like clouds, but 200 people on a plane that hits it wont have much in the way of engine left after flying through it both due to damage and lack of usable oxygen for the burn.
its fine saying i cant see it so left take off, get up to 35000 ft then finding that you have no engine and dropping 2000ft every minute

 

[indiaman]

A British Airways flight had a 4 engine failure in 1982, at 37000 ft, the Boeing 747 was a glider for oalmost 15 minutes, luckily the Rolls royce engines were able to be relighted and the aircraft landed safely with all passengers in Indonesia

 

[indiaman]

I read years ago that one volcanic eruption pollutes the atmosphere as much as the total emissions of all the vehicles in the world from the time of the invention of the automobile!if this is so why is there such a fuss being made by all the environment hawks?

 

[HDi fun]

The problem with volcanic ash is that it melts at about 1100 degrees C and jet engines operate at about 1400 degrees C.

So the stuff is drawn in, melts, and then coats the turbine blades and other parts with molten rock. This is not good for the dynamic balance of the engine, especially when you consider that the engines are running at speeds of up to 200,000rpm.

 

[WLBjork]

I read years ago that one volcanic eruption pollutes the atmosphere as much as the total emissions of all the vehicles in the world from the time of the invention of the automobile!if this is so why is there such a fuss being made by all the environment hawks?

Mostly because there was a surplus in the CO2-fixing capabilities of the worlds flora.

That surplus has been exceeded by human generated pollution, which means instead of being fairly constant, with the odd blip for such events as a volcanic erruption, we've got a constant upwards trend.

Edit: As for the 747, I heard that they only got 3 engines restarted.

 

[indiaman]

"Edit: As for the 747, I heard that they only got 3 engines restarted."

Actually, they got all four engines started, # 2 engine had to be shut down later

 

[thexav]

Well my car is coated in a fine powder, do you think this is ash or just road dust?

 

[HDi fun]

Atmospheric conditions can carry all sorts of dust and fine sand around the place. Let's face it, most of the stuff is of volcanic origin anyway, albeit from possibly thousands of years ago.

So why treat this particular batch with anything more than casual comment?

 

[dpsubaru]

(What do you think the wider implications of this volcanic eruption are?)

the eruptions will continue, the sunlight wont be able to reach the land with enough intensity to grow crops properly. the whole of Europe will be affected and everyone will be short on, esp, fresh produce. we will all contract ricketts, skurvey etc... and likely die. Seems this may be the worst case scenario.

On a happier note, seems this is doubtful.

In regards to the volcanic ash in the jet stream - suppose it depends on the weather and the size of the fragments as to how it will effect engines. Presume that only something like a thunderstorm, typhoon etc.. would be able to bring the particles down to ground level?