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Iceland's Volcanic Disruption

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A passenger reads a Spanish newspaper showing a picture on the front page of the Icelandic volcano eruption, as he waits at Bilbao airport, April 18, 2010. The airport was closed due to a cloud of volcanic ash emanating from a volcanic eruption in Iceland. (AP)
A passenger reads a Spanish newspaper showing a picture on the front page of the Icelandic volcano eruption, as he waits at Bilbao airport, April 18, 2010. The airport was closed due to a cloud of volcanic ash emanating from a volcanic eruption in Iceland. (AP)

Some planes are back in the skies, but it could days, even weeks, before air travel is back to normal in Europe and beyond.

Iceland’s ash cloud has stranded millions of passengers. Six days on, their frustration is sky-high.

Airline losses are climbing — just going up and up. The British Navy is sending in rescue ships. NATO planes are flying safety checks.

The volcano at the center of it all is now bubbling with lava and throwing up chunks of molten rock. And it could trigger other volcanic eruptions.

This Hour, On Point:  The global impact of tiny Iceland’s volcano.Guests:

Robert Wright, transport correspondent for the Financial Times.

Alan Levin, aviation and transportation correspondent for USA Today.

Richard Wunderman, volcanologist with the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program.  He is managing editor of the "Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network," and he sits on a working group for volcanic ash and aviation safety.

This program aired on April 20, 2010.

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