…head on over to ifitwasmyhome.com and map a scale image of the oil plume onto your current city or town. Here you can see the result for my location:

The site admins update the image of the oil plume regularly using satellite data from NOAA. They also have a live video feed of the spill and a running total of gallons leaked, just in case the visualization of an oil plume covering your home and the surrounding vicinity wasn’t enough to ruin your day.

via flowingdata

In my second consecutive volcano pun post (see Eyjafjallajökull to mankind: “Kiss my ash”, 18 April 2010), I have to express some true concern about my upcoming travel plans to Andy and Maureen’s wedding. It all depends on which way the wind blows.

The NY Times has a nice graphic of ash cloud movements, and they update airport closings regularly on the same page. We’re keeping an eye on it. I’d be interested in any Eyjafjallajökull iPhone/iPad apps – does anyone know of one?

Nothing like a volcanic eruption to demonstrate how insignificant we really are. Thankfully, Eyjafjallajökul chose to teach us this lesson two months before I’m scheduled to fly to the States for my brother’s wedding. So far, Barcelona’s airport remains open, but the ash cloud is drawing menacingly closer. I suppose it will clear up by June…

UPDATE [two minutes after original post]: Barcelona area airports are now closed after shifting winds bring ash cloud to Catalonia. Well played, Eyjafjallajökul.

Three positive effects of this event are (1) the temporary reduction in carbon emissions from heavy air travel (2) the increased interest in learning how to pronounce Icelandic words and (3) the convoluted tales of the journey home that travelers will be sharing with friends and family for years to come.