Katla! Oh, my!

A second, much larger volcano in Iceland is showing signs that it may be about to erupt, scientists have warned.

Since the start of the Eyjafjallajökull eruption, which caused cancellations of thousands of flights in Europe because of a giant ash cloud, there has been much speculation about neighboring Katla.

An initial research paper by the University College of London Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction said: "Analysis of the seismic energy released around Katla over the last decade or so is interpreted as providing evidence of a rising ... intrusive magma body on the western flank of the volcano."

"Earlier seismic energy release at Katla is associated with the inflation of the volcano, which indicates it is close to failure, although this does not appear to be linked to seismicity around Eyjafjallajökull," it added.

"We conclude that given the high frequency of Katla activity, an eruption in the short term is a strong possibility," the report said. "It is likely to be preceded by new earthquake activity. Presently there is no unusual seismicity under Katla."

When Katla erupts it spews forth enormous amounts of ash. This volcano system is thought to be the reason for cooling in Europe that led to crop failure and then the french revolution. More importantly, jet engines cannot work when there is ash in the atmosphere. the engines just turn off automatically. If there is a big eruption in Katla, flight over north Atlantic and possibly parts of (depends on the weather) Europe or north America could be grounded. for weeks or even months if it is a big eruption.