It’s often said that all disasters are local, but the recent ash plume from an Icelandic volcano has cast a shadow on the absoluteness of that statement. Eyjafjallajökull this week filled the skies with a cloud of thick ash that stopped European air traffic for six days, while those nearest the glacier-veiled volcano enjoyed clear days and relatively little fallout. Even more unusual, the economic impacts of the eruption were felt sooner than the environmental ones. Although not one life was lost, thousands mourned—most of them from airports.

The contrary nature of this particular disaster has provided a platform for many discussions, including the sustainability of our interconnected economies, our ability to respond to unexpected events, and our sometimes paltry efforts to mitigate the actions of Mother Nature.

“The eruption in Iceland is not large as volcanoes go, but the cloud over Europe has shed light on the awkward overlay of human commerce and a hot, churning, unpredictable Earth,” according to an article in the Washington Post. “It raises the question of what governments can do to prepare for—and adapt to—wild-card geological events that not only affect airliners but can also alter the planet's climate for years at a stretch.”

While the Eyjafjallajökull ash plume hasn’t reached high enough into the atmosphere to spark climate concerns, the reverberations from its grounding of airplanes have extended far and wide. “For all of the talk of globalization, we see what a global construct our sense of normality really is,” states a New York Times editorial.

One more immediate byproduct of the ash-imposed lack of air travel appears to be political angst. Predictably, airlines were unhappy with governments’ blanket closure of airspace.

“We are far enough into this crisis to express our dissatisfaction on how governments have managed it—with no risk assessment, no consultation, no co-ordination and no leadership,” the Guardian quoted International Air Transport Association Director General Giovanni Bisignani as saying Monday. “This crisis is costing airlines at least $200m a day in lost revenues and the European economy is suffering billions of dollars in lost business.”

Others have been less scathing, but agree that the decision making process behind the closures had been both opaque and disproportionate, according to an article in the New York Times.

The quiet in the skies hasn’t been entirely unappreciated. It seems many Brits like the quiet, others had fun launching a Dunkirk-style repatriation scheme (quickly nixed by the French), and the freeze even inspired a new magazine to be staffed entirely by bored, stranded people.

The broader lesson may be that, as with many other forms of disaster, our societies have been built right in harm’s way.

"Volcanic risk is actually rising, not because we're not doing our jobs, but because people are putting themselves nearer volcanoes, particularly with air travel," the Washington Post quoted U.S. Geological Survey geologist Marianne Guffanti as saying.

Wherever blame is placed, it’s unlikely to make much difference. Volcanic ash—particularly Icelandic volcanic ash—has long spurred political unrest. According to another Guardian article last week, an eruption of the Laki volcano from June 1783 to February 1784 caused famine and crop failures that ultimately led to the French Revolution. With Eyjafjallajökull acting unpredictably, and its last three eruptions followed by activity from its more fiery sister, Katla, chances are we haven’t heard the last from Iceland and beyond.