Katla, yet another huge Icelandic volcano, is showing signs that it may soon erupt and cause chaos to world air transport.

Al Jazeera reports that earth tremors around the immense volcano are leading to concerns that an eruption could have both profound effects on Iceland's landscape, as well as disrupting travel worldwide. The volcano last erupted in 1918, making it well overdue for a blast, and it's lava chamber is thought to be some 10 times the size of Eyjafjallajökull, which erupted in 2010.

(By the way, this is hardly the only Icelandic volcano you should be worrying about. Last year we saw reports that Grimsvotn and Bárdarbunga, two other icelandic volcanos, were due to erupt.)


The threat is so great that devices that can be used to track ash particles in the air are currently being tested on European aircraft, Der Spiegel reports. Such devices should hopefully enable flights to continue in the event of an ash cloud following a volcanic eruption.

Some experts say that despite Katla's immense size, perhaps we're overreacting. Xinhua Net reports that scientists in Iceland are uncertain as to whether the volcano will actually erupt and, even if it did, they are unsure whether such an eruption would be large enough to cause major concern.

In 2010 the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull, another Icelandic volcano, caused the grounding of numerous flights around the world with airlines concerned about the effect ash particles would have on airplanes' engines.