The distal impact of Icelandic volcanic gases and aerosols in Europe: a review of the 1783 Laki Fissure eruption and environmental vulnerability in the late 20th century

This paper presents detailed documentary evidence for volcanic pollution of the atmosphere over many parts of Europe during the eruption of the Laki Fissure in Iceland during ad 1783. The environmental impact of this event appears to have been severe, with reports of an acid dry fog in many parts of Europe, and often of associated damage to vegetation. It is argued that the meteorological conditions that led to this event are precisely the same as those which are associated with modern-day air pollution episodes in European conurbations, and the potential addition of millions of tonnes of volcanic gaseous material to the air over already polluted cities poses a rare, but in health terms potentially major, risk.