Louisiana Senator thought volcanic monitoring in AK was wasteful
http://www.adn.com/volcano/story/733767.html
What a moron.
In short, Republican Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal was trying to prevent Alaska receiving money for volcano monitoring, calling it a waste. But just a month later (this past weekend), Redoubt erupted. Without the monitoring equipment to sense for quaking and atmospheric pressure changes, the Alaska Volcanic Observatory (AVO) would of been relying on visuals only. And when Redoubt blew, it was cloudy.
Without that equipment, no one would of known Redoubt had erupted. And do I need to outline how that's a dangerous thing? With Anchorage International Airport just 100 miles away and ash clouds traveling dozens of times that distance? Does this guy not believe what havoc volcanic ash does to an airplane engine?
"You can imagine flying an airplane into a sand blaster. That's what happens when an airplane encounters an ash cloud," says geophysicist John Power.
* * * *
Erupted again yesterday evening but has settled back down again; ash clouds are still avoiding the Valley and Anchorage, which is good. If it goes now, though, it'll carry over to us. They talk about Redoubt's patterns in the article and how it and Spur and Augustine are very different from, say, Hawaii's volcanoes - why they spew ash like they do. Redoubt could stop now or it could keep going for months like last time. Never know.
What a moron.
In short, Republican Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal was trying to prevent Alaska receiving money for volcano monitoring, calling it a waste. But just a month later (this past weekend), Redoubt erupted. Without the monitoring equipment to sense for quaking and atmospheric pressure changes, the Alaska Volcanic Observatory (AVO) would of been relying on visuals only. And when Redoubt blew, it was cloudy.
Without that equipment, no one would of known Redoubt had erupted. And do I need to outline how that's a dangerous thing? With Anchorage International Airport just 100 miles away and ash clouds traveling dozens of times that distance? Does this guy not believe what havoc volcanic ash does to an airplane engine?
"You can imagine flying an airplane into a sand blaster. That's what happens when an airplane encounters an ash cloud," says geophysicist John Power.
* * * *
Erupted again yesterday evening but has settled back down again; ash clouds are still avoiding the Valley and Anchorage, which is good. If it goes now, though, it'll carry over to us. They talk about Redoubt's patterns in the article and how it and Spur and Augustine are very different from, say, Hawaii's volcanoes - why they spew ash like they do. Redoubt could stop now or it could keep going for months like last time. Never know.