Reykjavík Grapevine - jún. 2020, Blaðsíða 6

It’s official: nationals from the Schen-
gen Area are now allowed to enter
Iceland. And, as of July 1st, nationals
from outside of the Schengen Area
will be permitted to come to Iceland
as well, RÚV reports—even if other
Schengen states keep their borders
closed to the wider world for now.
Exceptions
There are some exceptions in this
regard. As the Directorate of Immi-
gration (ÚTL) states, apart from EU/
EEA, EFTA or UK nationals, other folks
who have been able to come to Iceland
since June 15th are “[i]ndividuals with
a valid residence permit in Iceland or
any of the Schengen Member States”
and “[f]amily members of Icelandic or
other EU/EFTA citizens, in particular
spouses, cohabiting partners, direct
descendants and dependent direct
relatives in the ascending line.”
Between June 15th and July 1st, those
from outside of the Schengen who
wish to come to Iceland must prove
that their travel is essential if the above
exceptions do not apply. ÚTL defines
essential travel as “passengers in
airport transit, health and care work-
ers on professional travel, transpor-
tation crews (airlines and freighters),
individuals requiring international
protection, individuals travelling
because of acute family incidents and
diplomats, international organization
staff, members of armed forces travel-
ling to Iceland for duty, or humanitar-
ian aid workers.”
These exceptions aside, a handy
shorthand to bear in mind is that if
you are a legal resident or citizen of a
Schengen Area country, you can now
come to Iceland. Everyone else will
have to wait until July 1st.
Connecting flights?
At a press conference held on June 12th,
Minister of Justice Áslaug Arna Sigurb-
jörnsdóttir admitted that they are still
working out all the details regarding
departures from Iceland and into the
Schengen Area, but that in conversa-
tions with EU officials, Iceland is seen
as a kind of border for the Schengen
Area.
Bear in mind that when you come
to Iceland, you must submit to being
tested for the coronavirus, and will be
expected to download the Rakning19
tracking app; your test results will be
sent to you through it. You’ll be asked to
wear a mask when boarding your plane
to Iceland, but you probably won’t be
required to wear it in Keflavík Airport,
if that matters to you. Further, if you’re
not sure how to get here, Icelandair has
added new destinations and several
other airlines have also begun flying to
and from Iceland. Check your preferred
airline for the latest information.
Recently, a large number of earth-
quakes were detected at the Yellow-
stone caldera. How would Iceland
fare should the supervolcano erupt?
Helgi Rafn Hró!marsson, a.k.a. The
Cosmic Chemist gave us answers.
To assess the gravity of a volcano’s
explosiveness, the Volcanic Explosiv-
ity Index (VEI) is used. The VEI is de-
pendent on how much volcanic ma-
terial is thrown out, to what height
and for how long. The indices run
from 0 to 8 on a logarithmic scale.
Going up one number on the VEI infers
a tenfold intensification!
Supervolcanoes are classified as
VEI-8. In comparison, the eruptions in
Katla (1918) and Eyja'allajökull (2010)
were a measly VEI-4. Imagine 10,000 Ey-
ja'allajökull eruptions at once and you
can imagine the kind of infernal apoc-
alypse a supervolcano prophecises.
To understand the e#ects of su-
pervolcanoes, we can roughly ex-
trapolate from the largest volcano
closest to us in time—the Mount Pi-
natubo eruption in 1991 (VEI-6). Fol-
lowing this eruption, an enormous
amount of sulfur dioxide was re-
leased, creating a haze of sulfuric
acid which spread throughout the
stratosphere, reducing the sunlight
reaching the Earth’s surface by 10%
leading to an average drop of 0.5°C.
Even worse, the ozone layer deple-
tion was accelerated leading to the
lowest ever ozone levels on record.
If these are the e#ects from a VEI-
6 event, could we predict a scenario
at least a hundred times worse? Well,
there’d be decades of reduced sun-
light and lower temperatures. And
the ozone layer might be screwed.
Ergo, we might start living under-
ground. Becoming Icelandic human
naked mole rats.
ASK A
Physical
Chemist
Q: How Would Iceland
Fare If Yellowstone
Erupted?

Iceland’s tourist
boom of the past
several years
has seen the
emergence of
di#erent facets of
local cuisine. Some
eateries push the
smellier, pickled
dishes o"en
sensationalized
abroad, like hákarl.
Some emphasise
the traditional
crowd-pleasers
like plokkfiskur
and kjötsúpa. And
many restaurants
o#er a “taste of
Iceland” menu
featuring foods
that are both
palatable and (to
tourists) exotic.
Enter the cute,
colourful bird that
has become the
poster child of the
tourist boom: the
Atlantic pu(n.
In the past,
coastal communi-
ties had to make
due with all avail-
able resources, so
pu(ns were o"en
hunted. Today they
are protected in
most countries,
aside from Iceland
and the Faroe Is-
lands. Even within
Iceland, it is illegal
to hunt them in
most of the coun-
try, aside from the
north.
Most Icelanders
do not regularly
eat pu(n, and
tend to write it
o# as too gamey,
tough, and briny. It
is a culinary tradi-
tion which has
largely fallen by
the wayside. Which
is far from a nega-
tive development.
In 2015, the
Atlantic puf-
fin’s conserva-
tion status was
downgraded from
“least concert”
to “vulnerable.”
This was probably
due to the decline
of sand eels, the
pu(n’s main food
source, forcing
pu(ns to feed
their o#spring
lower-energy
foods, leading to
fewer pu)ings
successfully fledg-
ing.
We therefore
encourage all
visitors to Iceland
looking to indulge
in the bird to be
conscious of the
risks the Atlantic
pu(n faces as a
species. Hunting
may have been
sustainable when
practiced by and
for Icelanders,
but it doesn’t
seem wise when
factoring
in current
environmen-
tal woes and
millions of
potential visi-
tors every year.
If you’re looking
for some “au-
thentic” tastes of
Iceland, maybe
just stick to the
skyr. NB
Pu
ffi
n
Iceland Welcomes You A#ain
These doors are !onna swin! wide!
Words:
Andie Sophia
Fontaine

Photo:
RÚV &
Art Bicnick
First 6 The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 04— 2020
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