The Night a Mountain Melted and Europe Stood Still

On April 14, 2010, the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in southern Iceland erupted with such force that it sent a column of ash nine kilometers into the sky. Within hours, aviation authorities across Europe began shutting down airspace. By the next morning, over 100,000 flights were canceled. Ten million travelers were stranded. The entire continent — with all its technology, all its commerce, all its carefully scheduled ambition — simply stopped.…