The number of natural disasters during the first trimester of the year has been staggering, given the remarkable number of violent earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tectonic plate shifts, which rocked the four corners of the planet as though it is still being moulded in ancient epochs; this is not to mention the devastating hurricanes and floods. Moreover, last year recoded 133 natural disasters, including hurricanes and earthquakes, and 155 manmade disasters. According to the annual study by the Swiss Re Insurance Group, based in Zurich, the cost incurred by insurance companies as a result of disasters last year amounted to 26 billion dollars, which were ‘lower losses' compared to those of previous years. Furthermore, the global economic impact of these disasters was valued at 62 billion. While earthquakes in Haiti, China and Chile and other disaster zones prompted the governments and many international organizations to provide emergency aid, intervention and rescue operations, the eruption of the Icelandic volcano brought some major transportation routes to a halt for nearly a week, and isolated the airports of the developed countries in Europe, trapping more than seven million passengers in the process. The eruption almost led to the collapse of many airliners that are no longer able to deal with accumulated debts and the sheer volume of their losses since the onset of the global economic crisis two years earlier. It may also adversely affect many economies or delay their growth. The island, which had outranked many other countries in terms of global economic indicators, and secured for its population of 320 thousand an annual per capita income of more than 54 thousand dollars in 2007, collapsed two years ago in the heat of the subprime mortgage crisis. Subsequently, its economy collapsed, and Iceland declared bankruptcy as the first victim state of the U.S subprime mortgage crisis. Geologically speaking, Iceland is neither a part of the European mainland nor of that of North America, and is the result of transatlantic tectonic plate shifts at their boundaries through rifting. Nonetheless, Iceland was hit hard by both the U.S economic crisis and the European depositors using its banks. Prior to the crisis, Iceland was one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Its revenues did not only depend on fishing, whaling or tourism, but also on its banking industry which, before imploding, had swollen budgets that were the equivalent of ten times the country's gross domestic product (i.e. around 170 billion dollar). The economy was in good shape, and Iceland recorded the fourth largest GDP per capita worldwide, while unemployment rates ranged between zero and one percent. According to official figures, however, unemployment following the crisis rose to ten percent. This economic model that was ahead in the global economy collapsed in the autumn of 2008. As a result, thousands of British and Dutch depositors who were hitherto attracted by the savings rates offered by Icelandic banks, could not recover their deposits except partially and in instalments, from the governments in London and Amsterdam. These latter demanded that Reykjavik return the 5.4 billion dollar accounts, prompting the Parliament of Iceland to pass a law on the last day of 2009, which stipulates that the amount mentioned above be repaid to British and Dutch depositors at the Icesave electronic bank- which collapsed in 2008- in instalments through the two governments over 14 years. It is noteworthy that the number of those depositors is equivalent to the island's population (320 thousand). While the island's banks bankrupted European depositors, the ash of its volcanoes damaged many companies whose losses may also affect insurance companies. As the volcano spilled dense ash clouds and paralyzed air traffic between Europe's airports and the rest of the world, it did not cause massive devastation, except in terms of angering thousands of passengers who were trapped in European airports, or who could not make their way back into Europe. But will the disgruntlement of the passengers lead to technical developments in the civil aviation industry in order to face such natural disruptions in the future? Emmanuel Garnier, who specializes in climate history at the University of Lyon, linked the eruption of the Icelandic volcano to the French Revolution in the Eighteenth Century, which he views as related events despite being apparently unrelated for most people. He says: “Undoubtedly, such natural phenomena as volcanic eruptions, droughts, and floods played an important role in European history. Take, for example, France: in July 1788, the grain regions of the country that fed Paris were hit by severe storms, and the entire crop was lost. In the following year, just before the outbreak of the French Revolution, historians write that the first rebellion began not in front of the Palace of Versailles but in front of bakeries, which did not have enough bread for everyone. This was not a mere coincidence”. He thus sees the wrath of the passengers as being a possible precursor to an industrial revolution in the world of aviation, or to an emergency travel program during natural disasters, in a manner that helps the European Union avoid the harsh criticisms that it received for taking too long to take appropriate measures, in the future. The best description of this failure came from Philip Bradbourn, a UK Conservative MEP, who said that Europe's reaction to the volcanic ash cloud was like “licking your finger and sticking it in the air to see which way the wind is blowing" But on the other hand, the island which attracts hundreds of thousands of depositors to its banking system may be able to benefit from its natural resources, even if they are of volcanic origins, to supply Europe with clean and renewable energy. In fact, Iceland is currently harnessing geothermal energy to produce steam that drives turbines and generates power. In this domain, Iceland may be able to extensively exploit such an energy source and export it to the mainland, in conjunction with Europe's imports of solar energy from gigantic solar cells installed in African deserts.
