Edinburgh, no stranger to an occasional haze, skilled an unprecedented atmospheric occasion on 31 Might, not like any seen over the previous 30 years. Whereas sea haar from the North Sea usually blankets Scotland’s capital, the haze noticed that Friday felt distinctively completely different. UKCEH researchers are presently investigating if this haze might be attributed to a volcanic plume that transited the UK following an eruption in Iceland.
A brand new fissure eruption occurred on the Reykjanes Peninsula in Iceland, the fifth eruption in a collection that started in December 2023 close to the city of Grindavik. Initially deemed a neighborhood concern because of its non-explosive nature, the eruption’s influence on UK’s air high quality was considered minimal. Nonetheless, meteorological circumstances brought about sulphur dioxide (SO2) ranges in Scotland to rocket to ranges not witnessed for the reason that Nineteen Seventies on the morning of 31 Might.
The Scottish Atmosphere Safety Company’s (SEPA) nationwide volcanic emissions community first detected a rise in SO2 on the Isle of Lewis on the night of 30 Might. Throughout the early hours, the plume moved southward, peaking in Scotland’s Central Belt by 6 am on 31 Might. St Leonard’s in Edinburgh reported a most focus of 1161 µg m-3.
Utilizing a mix of observations and modelling information, UKCEH researchers had been in a position to pinpoint the excessive SO2 ranges, making it extremely seemingly that the elevated ranges could possibly be attributed to the Icelandic volcano. The UKCEH’s EMEP4UK atmospheric chemistry transport laptop mannequin utility confirmed the sequence of occasions, indicating that if the eruption had occurred in another way, the SO2emissions may need missed the UK fully.
What distinguished this from earlier occasions is that considerably larger concentrations of SO2 had been recorded than beforehand reported within the UK, surpassing these of earlier Icelandic eruptions in recent times. Alongside excessive SO2, the volcanic plume comprised a combination of different gases, our researchers are actually investigating the composition of the plume in additional element.
Ought to we be involved?
Whereas this occasion exceeded air high quality goals for 10 hours in Edinburgh, it didn’t breach office publicity limits or pose a major well being danger. Our modelling effort helped predict that this plume would cross quickly over the UK. By chemical reactions, sulphur dioxide can contribute to the formation of small airborne particles (PM2.5) which might be dangerous to human well being. Measurement and mannequin outcomes point out that PM2.5 concentrations stayed properly beneath ranges of concern throughout this occasion.
Ecosystems are additionally weak to sulphur dioxide. Nonetheless, once more the short-lived nature of the plume implies that injury is prone to have been minimal.
This occasion will give us beneficial insights into how properly we will predict the impacts of volcanic eruptions on human well being and the environment. This helps us each to reply at quick discover, and to be ready for future eruptions.
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