Volcanic Eruption Shuts 8 Indonesian Airports, Strands 150K
The Facts
- More than 150,000 passengers were left stranded Sunday after volcanic ash from Mount Anak Krakatau forced Indonesian authorities to suspend operations of at least 712 flights at eight airports.
- Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport was closed on Sunday, and the suspension was extended several times until 5:30 p.m. local time. Operator Angkasa Pura said 301 flights were affected, including 58 international services.
- The Transportation Ministry designated Kertajati, Ahmad Yani and Juanda airports in Java as alternative landing sites, and Director General of Air Transportation Lukman F. Laisa said passengers with canceled flights would receive full refunds.
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The Spin
Climate-concerned narrative
Volcanoes and the climate are locked in a two-way street, and pretending otherwise ignores the research. Melting ice caps, shifting sea levels and the extreme rainfall that a warming world keeps supercharging have all been tied to eruption rates, dyke injections and collapsing lava domes. Heating the planet while sitting on 1,500 potentially active volcanoes is a gamble worth taking seriously.
Climate-skeptic narrative
Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where subducting plates melt into magma and blow their tops on a geological clock that runs for centuries. Eruptions are independent of anything humans do to the atmosphere, and volcanic gases amount to less than 1% of greenhouse gas emissions. What looks like a scary surge is just better monitoring and louder social media coverage of a routine cycle.
Metaculus Prediction
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