Deanne Bird

Public perception of jokulhlaup hazard and risk in Iceland: implications for community education

Recent studies indicate that large prehistoric jokulhlaup have flooded west from Myrdalsjokull glacier along the Markarfljot River, south Iceland. This new evidence coupled with an increase in seismicity in the Katla caldera, the underlying volcano of Myrdalsjokull, has highlighted a possible risk to local communities encompassing the Markarfljot River. Consequently, the Icelandic Civil Defence held an evacuation exercise in March 2006 to test a newly developed evacuation plan. Following this exercise, we conducted questionnaire surveys in order to investigate the publics knowledge and perception of jokulhlaup hazard and risk. Our results indicate that residents have a sound knowledge of jokulhlaup hazard. However, only 50% of residents perceive that their community could be at risk. Therefore, it is essential that jokulhlaup risk perception is increased to ensure a positive response to evacuation orders. This can be achieved through education programmes, open forum meetings and by regularly distributing hazard information.

Southern Iceland: Volcanoes, Tourism and Volcanic Risk Reduction

Tourists flock to southern Iceland to experience the impressive landscapes surrounding the Hekla, Eyjafjallajokull, Katla and Grimsvotn volcanoes. This chapter describes these volcanic systems and their recent activity. It also provides detail on strategies implemented by government agencies to reduce volcanic risk in this region.

Climate change and settlement level impacts

Settlements at the Edge examines the evolution, characteristics, functions and shifting economic basis of settlements in sparsely populated areas of developed nations. With a focus on demographic change, the book features theoretical and applied cases which explore the interface between demography, economy, well-being and the environment. This book offers a comprehensive and insightful knowledge base for understanding the role of population in shaping the development and histories of northern sparsely populated areas of developed nations including Alaska (USA), Australia, Canada, Greenland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, Finland and other nations with territories within the Arctic Circle.

Role of Social Media and Networking in Volcanic Crises and Communication

The growth of social media as a primary and often preferred news source has contributed to the rapid dissemination of information about volcanic eruptions and potential volcanic crises as an eruption begins. Information about volcanic activity comes from a variety of sources: news organisations, emergency management personnel, individuals (both public and official), and volcano monitoring agencies. Once posted, this information is easily shared, increasing the reach to a much broader population than the original audience. The onset and popularity of social media as a vehicle for eruption information dissemination has presented many benefits as well as challenges, and points towards a need for a more unified system for information. This includes volcano observatories using social media as an official channel to distribute activity statements, forecasts, and predictions on social media, in addition to the archiving of images and other information. This chapter looks at two examples of projects that collect/disseminate information regarding volcanic crises and eruptive activity utilizing social media sources. Based on those examples, recommendations are made to volcano observatories in relation to the use of social media as a two-way communication tool. These recommendations include using social media as a two-way dialogue to communicate and receive information directly from the public and other sources, stating that the social media account is from an official source, and posting types of information that the public are seeking such as images, videos, and figures.