Nature showing us who is really the boss

The days since last Thursday, when the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull erupted, have been strange and eerie: creating a world of distressed, displaced depressed - and stranded tourists and travellers. And for once, science can't give us any answers. No-one knows when this will end. No-one knows if it will get worse. In fact, the greatest fear is that it will get worse, and that the neighbouring volcano Hekla will also erupt. In the 1300s, an eruption by Hekla, apparently, lasted a full year.It is clear that despite our modernity, our instant communications, our fast travel, our sophistication, we are never more than an incidental on the surface of an earth that ultimately, is more powerful than we can ever be, as previous disasters have shown, most recently in Haiti.A facet of the story that has been something of a relief is that we have been spared, on the airwaves, wails of people demanding that they "blame the government". The reality has well sunk home that this disaster is something beyond the power of airlines, beyond the power of tour companies - and well beyond the power of Governments.For Irish people, this problem is particularly acute: we are one of Europe's islands, and air travel is a vital service. It's one thing being German and stuck in Italy: quite another being Irish and finding that you've got to find trains or buses across several countries, and then face into a ferry journey as well - if you can find a ferry that has space available.In the way that 9/11 changed air travel forever, it's fair to say that "4/15" will do likewise.No more will we blithely set off on air journeys without that niggling fear that we may find ourselves stranded abroad, And indeed, it is quite likely that no more will we have cheap air travel as an option.For families, the considerations that will now come with travelling abroad will be even stronger: as bad as it would be to be an adult single or adult couple stranded in a foreign country with uncertainty over everthing - to be parents stuck in a holiday resort with young children and no definite return date home must be a complete nightmare.In the wake of 4/15, foreign holidays will become the preserve of the wealthy - those well-enough off to know that even if they do find themselves having to remain on in their destination beyond their planned return date, that they can afford either to stay on - or have the reserves to spend whatever it takes to get themselves home.It's likely that many airlines will go to the wall over this crisis; it's likely that the lack of competition will drive up the costs of flying.It is likely too, that out of fear that a similar scenario will emerge again, airlines will have to put a loading on ticket prices, so they are able to bear the cost of accommodating and feeding the passengers they are unable to fly home.The world as we know it has changed in a way that even 9/11 didn't change it.We had forgotten the power nature had over us, as we used planes and technology to conquer distance, medicine to conquer disease, science and engineering to battle weather, knowledge to conquer space, Now we know who is really master.