We are facing disaster everywhere, we've got earthquake in China (Asia), or in Australia. And in the middle of those Asian and Australian continent is Indonesia with its volcanoes...so, we are prone to disasters.
The recent volcano's eruption in Iceland had made the airlines in Europe stranded. As the ashes are still disturbing the air, then people used alternative routes, including for those football players like those of FC Barcelona who need to take the long journey by bus.
The news about Iceland reminds me of the famous Mt. Krakatau which eruption in 1883 produced 21 cubic kilometres (5.0 cu mi) of rock, ash, and pumice. It is written in Wikipedia that "the cataclysmic explosion was distinctly heard as far away as Perth in Western Australia, about 1,930 miles (3,110 km) away, and the island of Rodrigues near Mauritius, about 3,000 miles (5,000 km) away". I was once read that the great waves produced by its eruption can be felt as far as England, while the dust traveled to North America and Europe.
The impact of natural disaster are sometimes shared between nations. Even if we are not there, and we don't really experience the situation but these days news made it closer to us. Yes, we are now living in a global village. Those stranded airline passengers whose destination are in Europe, or those from Europe who would like to travel to the other side of the world, they could be one of us, or one of our family. If the eruption of Mt. Krakatau caused problems mostly for the sailors, then then Iceland volcano's eruption made lots of problems for those who are dealing with airflights to and from Europe (the passengers, and the airline companies). With more voyages in this modern time, we are also loosing (or feeling greater impact) more (in financial term) than back then in that other century. I can imagine how frustrated those passengers who are traveling with their tight budget, or who have certain schedule commitment back home. I was once travel as a backpaker in Europe, I can't imagine how would I react if I was taken into that kind of situation at the airport. Hopefully the situation will get better soon...
PS. There is also Mount Tambora which was erupted in 1815 and made the year 1816 as a year without summer. It was recorded as the world's largest eruption in recorded history. There is another blogpost that described various volcano eruption and compared it to that volcano in Iceland.
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