An 80% Chance of Rainbows

The 2010 eruption grounded 100,000 flights and stranded 10 million passengers across Europe. Microscopic glass shards in volcanic ash can sandblast jet engines to failure mid-flight, yet our models for predicting where ash clouds drift are still basic.

Volcanic eruptions generate their own lightning - electric discharges crackling through ash clouds. The charging mechanism differs from thunderstorms, silica particles and ice crystals colliding at hundreds of miles per hour create static electricity on a massive scale.

A volcanic island that emerged from the sea off Iceland in 1963 and has been kept free of human interference ever since. Scientists watch in real time as life colonizes bare rock, documenting how ecosystems build themselves from nothing.

Within 3 years of this island emerging from the sea in 1963; bacteria had colonized it. Carried by seabirds in their droppings. Turning sterile rock into living soil.

This island emerged from the ocean in 1963. Scientists have monitored every plant and animal colonization since, making it the best-documented ecosystem assembly ever.

An island born from volcanic eruption in 1963, completely sterile initially. Scientists have documented every single species arrival, creating an unparalleled record of ecosystem assembly from zero.