Why Iceland's lava is so hard to stop | About That

[@misha4422]

Slight correction … the buildings in Grindvik damaged by lava was due ti a small fissure that opened very close to town inside the barrier walls, not a barrier failure, exactly. The vast majority of lava from that eruptive episode was indeed blocked & diverted by the barriers.

[@RAD6150]

How is that a correction? Literally what was said at 9:02

[@stevepeters5541]

Well noticed

[@RLSouza83]

I watch from Brazil congrats for all that help for saved the grindavik city this barrage that was made change the direction for others place

[@747Cone]

This guy is literally the best reporter on CBC. He has the best and most informative videos. Keep it up!

[@46ntwo46]

Yes, lava is really hot and flows down hill. Such a wealth of knowledge.

[@joshmayich7959]

i was just thinking the same thing. solid dude in front of the camera w a legit presence

[@ccreature7086]

Might be an OK reporter for this propaganda institution, but this topic and bandwidth is wasted on a subject as ridiculous as "why can't humans breathe underwater".

[@Fujhipngff]

legit, and he reports on all sides of issues. much more central bias compared to other news outlets

[@positivevibes7093]

I actually like how this guy does his reporting 💯 keep up the good work 👏

[@kizi86]

also, the berms they built around Grindavík, they also built giant berms around the Svartsengi powerplant, that supplies the whole Reykjanes peninsula with both electricity, and hot water for heating houses (we use geothermal hot water for heating houses here, not gas or electricity), so if that plant would go, the entire peninsula would be without means for heating houses. and the berms have held perfectly

[@jeffreygladden581]

It's funny the part where he says oh let's just dig a trench. But the thing is is it's not digging through soil or or dirt you'd have to dig through previous lava fields which are pure rock

[@mechadense]

I guess that's why they went for barriers instead. Using material from a quarry that I heard is at risk of getting blocked.

[@mehere8038]

I actually assumed that was where he was going to go with the bombing when the bombing was mentioned early in the video, that they would be bombing older lava rock, so as to create holes/channels for new stuff to run into

[@Relkond]

@@mechadenseyou want barriers that won't float on the lava - some rocks will float on lava. Others will melt in it - might be best to just quarry lava rock directly from the paths you want it to take, piling it where you want the flowing lava to avoid.

[@DougGrinbergs]

5:57 bombs 7:22 water cannons. Wikipedia: "hydrogen combines with chloride ions dissolved in sea water, forming hydrogen chloride gas (hydrochloric acid)" 8:11 defensive / diversion wall / berm

[@silversong4VR]

Yeah, surprised that wasn't mentioned. Would like to know how they dealt with that in the past.

[@bobbun9630]

@@silversong4VR Mostly a hazard for those working the hoses, I would guess. HCl at low altitudes is rapidly removed from the atmosphere and neutralized. They would have to have been prepared to deal with other hazardous volcanic gasses in any case.

[@ccreature7086]

@@silversong4VR they just add the HCI emissions to the carbon tax bill of the volcano 😉

[@stavinaircaeruleum2275]

Very, very nasty stuff.

[@alangill6712]

I love Andrew’s work and presentation style. Always great to see him.

[@Valery0p5]

On mount Etna, we managed to divert the lava to an old caldera a couple of times. It is possible

[@JohannNorris]

I love my Icelandic people they’re so smart I haven’t been in Iceland in a long time 🇦🇽🇨🇦 originally from Iceland

[@olafurgislisigurorsson9068]

a frend of mine kame to iceland for geology, he kame here shortly after one eruption stoped. and whene he was paking for his departure the next eruption started

[@dshack4689]

Wonderfully done presentation. Not full of filler, not full of errors or gross oversimplifications, not too long. Cheers!

[@PeterTeehan]

Pele is a powerful goddess. Us hawaiians understand this type of lava. This type cannot be stopped until the event is naturally over.

[@bartjes2509]

I've been following events near Grindavik since it began in October last year. Protective berms have been put in place first on the 2021 Fagradalsfjall eruption where they prevented lava flowing West. They initially built walls around the Svartsengi geothermal powerplant (providing hot water and electrticity to 30000 homes and Keflavik international airport) and around the Blue Lagoon geothermal spa (biggest tourist destination). Problem is that once the first lava is diverted by these walls, they have permanently raised the land on the other side of that wall. Another eruption in the same place would need the wall to be higher to have effect there again...

[@CanadianSmoke]

Another work of art, Andrew!! Thank you!

[@jpallen719]

I grew up in Kapoho Hi. Everything that I experienced as a kid in that place was completely destroyed. All the beach houses in the ponds filled with fish and turtles completely erased the little bay gone too.

[@annahui9919]

Thanks for your explanation..😊

[@tess4-2]

Thanks. Nice job of explaining.

[@Alex_Plante]

I think that Grindavik will have to be re-located, probably to the east side of the harbour. Small wood-framed houses could be moved to a "New Grindavik", but large buildings and masonry building would have to be rebuilt.

[@williamlloyd3769]

Great video! I was wonder why the levies they built around the geothermal power plant and Grindavik were so massive.

[@MrPicky]

Because if the lava would have harmed the power plant a large part of the population would be without hot water and electricity. Having them built so massive was to make sure that they could stear the lava away from the important infrastructure. With the first volcanic eruption they tested "the wall theory" and it was so successful that they learnt that you need to make a massive wall to make sure that the lava will have to find another way.

[@maxloewe9162]

This should be a show for Children.

[@koriw1701]

"If you stick your hand in lava..." "...you're not going to get it back."

[@kizi86]

there is not state of emergency really here, well locally maybe, but not over all the country, i live in reykjavik, and we are totally safe here, no one is in danger from the lava from the eruption.

[@Planet-ICELAND]

We have to try.. else we wont know if it works or not.

[@o.aldenproductions.9858]

Yes the question isn't how to stop it but how to divert it....we don't question how to stop hurricanes or heat waves.... but we use our intelligence to damage control....and that's what Icelanders are doing and have been successful at✌🏼👌🏼

[@ericfan1223]

This dude needs his own youtube channel

[@michasosnowski5918]

Its a force of nature that created us, created everything. Continents, mountains, soil, climate. We cannot stop it, becouse its what created everything we know. Its beyond our control. I think its good.

[@sixthsenseamelia4695]

Using so much Hawai'i footage is misleading. And Grindavík was evacuated because of earthquake damage.

[@dolphinschild62]

Thank you

[@luigitenneriello74]

To be fair: lava diversion is not an icelandic idea. It was done successfully on Etna (Italy) in the 1980s. What is unique in Iceland is the size of the diversion project.

[@je-fq7ve]

Mesas out west are a result of lava flows. Lava flowed down into the river channels and filled them up. Over millions of years the surrounding sandstone has eroded away leaving shear cliffs of the mesas.

[@historybuff7491]

Very good. I wish more reporting have this good of an explanation to whatever the topic is. You did this well. Thank your team.

[@thesunexpress]

Additional problem in Grindavik in particular, is the movement directly beneath the town. Lots of huge crevasses have appeared, cutting right across main streets etc. Foundations of most homes will be doomed within the next few years, along with constant threat of lava eruptions & the occasional vent of deadly gasses appearing in living rooms.

[@NathanHarrison7]

Very informative and interesting. Great production value. Great host. Subscribed.

[@danielcunningham2394]

I wonder if the lava could be cast into building blocks in the diversion ditches and then used after the eruption.

[@stavinaircaeruleum2275]

People also forgot that lava makes hydrochloric acid gas upon contact with sea water; which isn't exactly productive to your lifespan...

[@SA-Napalm]

Best thing to do is give up? Great concussion.. my word..

[@109dod]

“Big swaths of the country considered at very high risk”. Proceeds to zoom into a very small part of the country.

[@michaeldeierhoi4096]

He should have also mentioned the larger threatening volcanoes to the east for better context!

[@lv_m7026]

what's about idea to put shield around lava flow? It might be that lava will form a tunnel-like structure in this case. Just pre-buiild shield and turn it to right direction until it's needed.

[@johnpatricklim4509]

Can't stop the lava....but it can diverted the direction away from critical installations....

[@BobSF94117]

My goodness. Reality is interesting enough. It doesn't need such hysteria.

[@michaeldeierhoi4096]

I didn't see any hysteria in this video. What hysteria are you referring to?

[@quietone748]

Grindavik was evacuated before Christmas. You're a little (lottle) late to the party!

[@Mystic_The_Wolf]

I've been to iceland. Back when the volcano was asleep a few years ago. 2017 I think

[@infobeam1902]

Lot of heat energy there. Could maybe extract power from the lava and possibly neutralize it at the same time.

[@gavinhassett479]

Seems like hes unnecessarily dumbing down the subject... for 5 yr olds.

[@46ntwo46]

Exactly! Did you know lava is hot and flows down hill? Go way by!

[@michaeldeierhoi4096]

So based on that one statement you are judging the whole video?! 🙄

[@28ebdh3udnav]

It's mother nature. You can't stop it

[@lambo6012]

Maybe because it's a volcano

[@andylindsaytunes]

Volcanos are so hot right now. That's my dad-joke for the day.

[@andyeunson270]

All of Iceland is volcanic.

[@Alphoric]

Remember though they received the advantages of volcanic land; it’s just what happens when you choose to live on volcanic land. We shouldn’t seek to stop lava whatsoever

[@paullau3337]

Put a block of water 1 square above to create cobblestone

[@mastpg]

Lava + Levee = Lavee...you're welcome.

[@eldritchangel4058]

I don't know why that last sentence made me think of that Patrick Star meme.

[@bohdanburban5069]

Does anyone ring abell when eruption stops?

[@paleggett1897]

1000C is going to make the difference - only ‘baggillions of liters’ of seawater might slow it a bit…. and sometimes if it flows slowly, it may succeed…. for now!

[@gordontaras]

cost effective for the community. not for the person losing their property.

[@billjohnson7904]

Who would think a volcano is hard to stop? People are delusional.

[@Limbo560]

Get your information from somone hwi knows! This is the silliest I have ever seen. There is no danger here - and no one is afraid!

[@digitalmusic4803]

Good reporting. I disagree about it being so expensive to build the walls. Majority of the cost is the work force, so that money goes back to the economy, the same with the repair of vehicles. Fuel for the machines is bought from abroad, that is true, as are the spare parts for said machinery.

[@michaeldeierhoi4096]

It is most definitely expensive to build a wall several km long that is up 8 m high. The authorities in Iceland are clear about that which is why they needed to be sure where the wall would go up so that it was most effective.

[@youtubewatcher4603]

I love how they discuss that it can be done, but it's just too cost prohibitive. And that moving is probably the best course of action.

[@zelllers]

Living near a volcano seems expensive

[@mehere8038]

dunno, other comments are talking about the geothermal energy instead of gas for heating etc, so I wonder what the net costs end up at & how they compare to other natural disaster prone areas, may not actually be that bad

[@michaeldeierhoi4096]

Living on the US Gulf Coast and east southeast coast is also expensive. Guess why? Living in much of the eastern US may not be expensive everywhere, but it is quite vulnerable to tornadoes and flooding!!

[@hulkthedane7542]

Concrete has densities similar to lava, not just half that if lava. ....

[@michaeldeierhoi4096]

He was probably confusing concrete with cement. The latter does have a density of half that of basaltic lava. Basaltic lava is about 17 % more dense than concrete at 2.9 g/ml vs 2.4g/ml. Regardless your point is correct.

[@scottmcshannon6821]

billions of liters of water turned to steam. what could go wrong?

[@locivids]

What is this Guy's name? Hope tonsee him in more videos or on a show!

[@darreno9874]

Sensationalist

[@LachlanKent]

Okay so make heated trenches that dont allow lava to cool. Use the thermal energy from the erruption itself to power the heated trenches, creating a re usable lava drainage system

[@mehere8038]

how exactly are you going to heat to that temp? There's no usable energy coming off your system, that's for sure! heating costs will be WELL beyond any harvastable heat! That idea is worse than a perpetual motion machine!

[@Species-lj8wh]

It's not like a computer game. Not much will survive the 1000 degrees C of said rock. And those that can like Carbon Steel, Titanium, Palladium, Platinum are quite rare. And how would you use get the thermal energy out into a usable form?

[@ashergoney]

Northwest Along The Ridge Lines Of Himalayas Merged With Karakorum Range To The West and Tibetan Plateau From Regions Of Laddak, Leh , Lasha Ranges Till Northeast Of The State Boundaries Along Mountain Ranges Of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Kurseong to the east, Sikkim and Nepal to The Northwest Beyond 1500kms From Coastline At Bay Of Bengal, River Hoogly Separates The Western Seaboard Of The Deccan Plateau Peninsula Of The Indian Subcontinent.. 25 Sand Bars till July 2019 On The Arabian Sea. 35 Sand Bars Since July 2019 Onwards .

[@chaplaind.nelson-zlomaniec2131]

I can stop the village from being destroyed. Cost of my end US$500k and city saved in 1week

[@ElixirEcho]

Chuck Norris could stop that

[@Bojangles149]

What's the difference between lava and concrete? One's hard and heavy, and the other is hot and heavy.

[@michaeldeierhoi4096]

Lava is heavier than concrete 2.9 g/ml vs 2.4 g/ml. Just sayin'.

[@DeadEyeDave]

This report fails to acknowledge Iceland's many successful attempts at redirecting lava using seawater to cool the edges of flows. This build rock walls which can help divert lava away from targets intended for protection.

[@46ntwo46]

At 740 he mentioned it.

[@lavalady5097]

Very good video. I live near this volcano in the next town reykjanesbær. We are lucky here because we are just off thd volcanic system and on old bedrock. The only part of this town at risk of lava flows is innri njarðvik if the flows headed north west, but im lucky because i live on the hill next to it which is known as ásbrú the old nato base. I can see the powerplant, blue lagoon, mt Þórbjörn, Sýlingafell, alot of berm work and the eruptions from my house. It is surreal.

[@Sjalabais]

The Icelandic professor's "your hand is getting bbq'ed quickly if you stick it in lava"-insight is absolutely nonsensical. It says nothing about comparable temperature and who tf would even do that?

[@kmm1863]

andrew chang for prime minster 2025

[@Alex_Plante]

more like 2040

[@Mystic_The_Wolf]

Isn't that lava gonna extend Iceland's border over many years?

[@DoctorCactus98]

I mean, you could also not live on active volcanic islands. the lava can flow where ever it wants :D

[@michaeldeierhoi4096]

You can also not live on the Gulf Coast or east coast of the US where one has a greater chance of being hit by a hurricane. Or you could also not live east of the Rocky Mountains to the coasts where tornadoes are common. And that is just the beginning when talking about natural hazards in the US alone. So what was your comment about again!?!?

[@marcusm8009]

Woo! The earth reshaping and expanding. I want a property with lava flowing on it.

[@yggdrasill1405]

Lot of correct info, but one thing is missing. We have now had those volcanos opening in certain area again and again, so those barriers we made are now holding but the lava also has reached the top of the barriers, and history in last 3 years tells us this will happen again in same place, and what to do then ? you can not raise the walls endless and new lava will flow on top of the old one and over those barriers :l so in my eyes it is waste of money and would be better used to buy up all those homes on market price and let ppl be free from the unsecurity.

[@michaeldeierhoi4096]

The narrator in this video stated the point clearly that the wall buys them time which it has. After all what else can they do? They can raise the wall a little more, but even if the eruption keeps happening obviously the threat to infrastructure increases and it's true the wall can only be raised so much. And even if you buy up the homes there is still the power plant which supplies a significant amount of hot water and power to the Reykjanes Peninsula where these eruptions are occuring. Further the town of Grindavik is in a strategic location for a good fishing port. That can not be cast aside so easily. It is one of the few ports on the southern coast of Iceland.

[@billjohnson7904]

Next up, how to stop plate tectonics.

[@mackenzieneal331]

I have a radical idea! Don't build your homes on lava flow channels!

[@poetmaggie1]

The lava is so hard to stop? Who can stop it? Eruptions are not controlled by people, they can detour it some but those walls are only good if not enough lava flows against it. You say the ice land lava eruption is hotter than most erupting lava, I would guess that it is hotter because it is coming more directly from the main source.

[@mehere8038]

"ice land"???? lol um ok

[@michaeldeierhoi4096]

The lava from this eruption is hotter because it is basaltic lava which is the hottest kind of lava. Up to 1200 C. It isn't just Iceland that produces volcanoes that erupt basalt, but also Hawaii does at Kilauea for example. The lava from volcanoes like Mt St Helens is cooler 800-900 C but thicker too resulting in explosive eruptions on occasion and thus more dangerous.

[@mehere8038]

@@michaeldeierhoi4096 kinda funny how the hottest lava is only as hot as bushfires in Australia

[@jeffreywickens3379]

Just don't build a town in an area where you expect lava to come to.

[@bobbun9630]

At the time that the town was built, there probably was no imminent hazard. At least no more hazard than other places in Iceland with a suitable harbor. Most of the U.S. would be unbuildable if we applied the sort of long term thinking you're suggesting to every town on the basis of every natural hazard that has a decent chance of occurring over the long term. Volcanoes, earthquakes, wildfires, floods, tsunamis, tornadoes, hurricanes... The list of potential natural hazards is a long one, and most towns are potential victims of at least one over the long term. In any case, most towns tend to spring up organically, not as the result of some singular decision to build a town in a particular location like you might make for a single building.

[@karllove57]

Well it´s been 800 years since this part of Iceland was volcanicly active. Greetings from Iceland.

[@jeffreywickens3379]

@@karllove57 Greetings from Hawaii. The last lava flow on my property was in 1907. There are 9 lava danger zones here, 1 is worst, 9 is safest, and I live in zone 2. I'm on Mauna Loa volcano. My property will likely get hit again, but probably not in my lifetime. Kailua-Kona is a built-up city on the west side of Hawaii Island, below Hualalai Volcano. Hualalai has about a 500 year eruption cycle. Eventually, Kailua-Kona will be erased from the map.

[@jeffreywickens3379]

@@bobbun9630 My response was to all the upset that people seemed to have about that town being destroyed. Well, you build in a lava zone, you gotta expect it some day. The last eruption on my property was in 1907, Mauna Loa Volcano, here in Hawaii. Kilauea Volcano destroyed hundreds of homes in the eruption in 2018, and the people who lost their homes, KNEW that they were in a danger zone, but they lived there anyways. I feel pretty safe where I'm at, because the flows tend to come through my area like rivers, flowing in a definite course, and there's a good chance it'll never get me. But if it does, it does.

[@michaeldeierhoi4096]

​@@jeffreywickens3379 117 years it not much time at all in the larger scheme of life. These people hadn't had an eruption in their area in 800 years as another had indicated. If YOUR house was destroyed by an eruption next week you would be just as upset as the these other people you hear about in Iceland!!

[@elaineshiffer6929]

Cuz it's lava?

[@roxannesigurdsson2218]

I have family in Iceland and they have told me many stores. A lot of them were scary to hear. Good work on this video Andrew.

[@made-eo7uz]

why settle down with a demon? makes no sense.

[@Weledona-Z]

Just to get out of the way😂

[@mechadense]

Yeah. Easier said than done for immovable properties. You'd have to proactively go for mobile homes. Like construction worker container homes. Few would want that.

[@mehere8038]

@@mechadense imagine trying to live in a container home in those cold conditions! Half the home would need to be insulation! Not practical at all

[@mechadense]

@@mehere8038 - Generally most people wouldn't want to permanently live in shipping container based housing. Isolating and heating such housing goes beyond that issue. Just not a realistic szenario. Even with foresight.

[@TalRohan]

Great video , informative and sensitively handled. Thankyou for sharing

[@realDCrann]

Andrew, please tell us you are planning a personal KZbin channel so your quality journalism has a home once the CBC is finally defunded. You are the best asset they have and you deserve a better outcome than the crooked CBC can provide. All the best!

[@mialavergne795]

Have u considered he might *like* working for the CBC because it's actually kind of a nice place to work at and a good institution in our contry?

[@Shivaho]

They should dig trenches as well to direct it away from the town...

[@michaeldeierhoi4096]

Amazing!! It's like you didn't watch the video at all!! 🙄

[@cbb9580]

Let's move to Iceland lots of newly formed land available 🙈

[@tuvanrashid1299]

Very normal neural thing

[@joebudi5136]

Earth diarrhea!! Hot diarrhea!!

[@bandittelevision]

Explained like everyone is 10 years old

[@mehere8038]

yes a 10 year old would follow, but so would adults that don't have experience with lava & I don't get a talked down to vibe from this at all

[@dmmness]

Lava came pouring out without warning? Really? They were literally building barriers and waiting for it. Trying to sensationalize another story I see.

[@MKPiatkowski]

At one point there was a fissure that opened up that was unexpected. I believe that's what he was referring to.

[@michaeldeierhoi4096]

This last eruption in March 16 did in fact occur without warning because there was very little earthquake activity preceding it.

[@MUCKFOOT399]

put all our garbage in the lava

[@locivids]

You cants stop what the world is going to do? NO ONE can stop what happens geologically! No president, person, or thing can stop Volcanoes 🌋🌋!! 🎉

[@bertjesklotepino]

is Hawaiian lava easier to stop? What about the Lava from any other volcano? Is it easier to stop? Is it only Iceland's lava that is so hard to stop?

[@michaeldeierhoi4096]

Look up what the eruption of Kilauea in 2018 did to Lalani estates! Hundreds of homes destroyed by the lava flows. Or the eruptions from Cumbre Vieja in the Canary Islands a few years ago that also destroyed dozens of homes. There was no way to divert those lava flows as they were too large to divert. You need to understand the different kinds of volcanoes that produce thinner vs thick lavas. The thinner lava is called basalt and flows faster and also much hotter and thus is harder to slow down except with barriers. The other kind of lava is from a more explosive volcano like Mt Etna which produces pyroclastic flows which are much more dangerous to life. They can cause other serious problems, but that you can find out for yourself.

[@bertjesklotepino]

that i understand. But, the title triggered me. I read it like as if it is some kinda special lava that is just not easy to stop. And sure, it may be the case. But, i think this is the same for every instance you just gave. You cant stop Mt Etna's pyroclastic flows. And it seems that they could not stop the lava at the other cases you mentioned. I understand there are different types. But in my humble opinion, they are all difficult to stop. Mostly because you just aint gonna ever know how much of it will come out the vulcano, etc etc@@michaeldeierhoi4096

[@chase123456ist]

Huge ice blocks

[@alexfrance500]

Lava would melt ice pretty darn quickly, plus, it would react with the meltwater & release gasses & ash into the atmosphere. One of the less bad things about these eruptions is that they are only bad on a very small scale - I live 30km (18 miles) away & am completely unaffected. Do you remember Eyjafjallajokull in 2010? How it stopped flights across the Atlantic & Europe... That was because it erupted under a glacier & the reaction with the meltwater released loads of ash into the atmosphere which is dangerous to jet engines.... PLUS, that was under a freaking GLACIER & that didn't stop it much, so I don't know quite how much ice you are planning to bring to the party? ;P

[@mehere8038]

@@alexfrance500 interesting info, thanks for sharing that :) I never knew that re the 2010 eruption

[@40MileDesertRat]

"Why is Icelands lava so hard to stop." Really? Really... That has to be one of the most ignorant questions that was ever asked.

[@michaeldeierhoi4096]

People often ask very ignorant questions. People are like that.

[@ingibjorningason2014]

some statements not so accurate.. the cost of the berms is a lot less then the house they protect and it is not a big swatches in iceland that are dangerous it is a very small area the rest of iceland is safest country in the world. these statements make people cancel holidays to iceland and is hurting tourism. the cost of the berms is around 6 billion icelandic krona and just the value of the homes is around 80 billions, 5 minutes of research just fact check more and less playing with corn sirup

[@RLSouza83]

Who pay this tracktors and excavators ,truks because this is very expensive

[@missharry5727]

The government

[@marcinhibner9507]

Tunnel that lava and use old hardened lava cut up a up into blocks of various sizes and use it fur tunnel and this is the fun part first ever power plant or plants getting heat from tunnel and keep mixing lava as well into new building blocks to create structures. Use specialized robotic equipment first ever tat will also teach further on how to create sort of stationary high speed self like building structures where it's needed. That's the future and also will help in human buildings and animals and like all its endless designs and like restructuring for Ai and robots and things that will fit into new age designs on earth thta is ever changing in climate could eblven build a new citys to help humans escape from elements that lave is your building material use it its there to be used in climate changes cover from heat in awy and like bybth seas structures like caves but modern and like glass all fun stuff and organic natural and robotics will help with Ai. Only gist of it all but you know what I mean.

[@Foreverfront]

lol bro its the earth it doesn't care