Nature and Business

Post by Alyssa Baskam, Great Decisions student

The cloud of Volcanic ash from Mount Eyjafjallajokull continues to delay air transit throughout Europe. Businesses are beginning to be concerned about possible losses as businessmen remain stranded or unable to complete their business trips. Businesses such as DHL must find creative ways to get their products into and out of Europe and have started shipping to perimeter airports, from where they use ground transport to move their items. This has led to some delays and it is yet to be seen how much loss businesses will accrue. Interestingly enough, other industries have started to boom because of the ash cloud. Bus and train transportation, car rentals, and hotels have benefitted from increased usage. Hotels are full of people who are stranded in the midst of their journeys, at the beginning of their journeys, and unable to return home from their journeys. There is hope that the increase in business at these ends will help to stabilize the GDP. It is still uncertain what kind of effect this ash cloud "freeze" will have on the European economy.