Alaska Volcano Erupts, Air Travel Disruption Possible

It’s been nearly two years since scientists at the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) warned that Alaska’s Cleveland volcano could erupt at any time, issuing a code yellow eruption advisory. Saturday, those scientists were proven more than right.

“We haven’t seen a phase like this where we’ve had multiple explosions,” Rick Wessels, a geophysicist at the US Geological Survey‘s Alaska Volcano Observatory, told Reuters in a Christian Science Monitor report.

Over the weekend, the Cleveland volcano erupted, spewing gas, steam and low levels of ash 15,000 feet into the atmosphere, directly into the commercial airline flight path between Asia and North America. While disruption in the atmosphere at 15,000 feet is well below the normal 35,000 feet cruising altitude of commercial aircraft, the concern is that further eruptions could disrupt air traffic, much like Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano (pictured) did in 2010.Then, nearly 20 European countries closed their airspace after a secondary eruption ejected an ash plume that rose to a height of 30,000 feet. For now, scientists wait and watch.

[Image credit – Flickr user finnur.malmquist]

Officials Search For ‘Frankenfish’ In Central Park

Environmental officials plan to survey a lake in Central Park for the northern snakehead fish, a curious species often referred to as the “Frankenfish.”

After sightings in Queens in recent years, the toothy, predatory fish is thought to have reared its ugly head in the park, NBC News is reporting. Native to China, Russia and Korea, the invasive species eats frogs and crayfish, and – scarily – has the ability to live out of water in certain conditions.

The fish is such a threat to the ecosystem that signs have been posted around Harlem Meer warning anyone who catches the fish to “keep it in a secure container until it’s picked up by officials.” In 2002, the fish was discovered in a pond in Crofton, Maryland, leading to a slew of major media coverage and spawning three horror movies.

[Photo credit: United States Geological Survey / Wikimedia Commons]