Believe it or not, this was the official message sent to us by our government. Needless to say, the cloud did not really "understand" where these borders exactly were, and traveled above at least half the country. Consequences were much milder than the ones the victims living in the vicinity of the plant had to endure. However, an increase in some pathologies such as thyroid cancer was quite significant afterwards.
Today another cloud has come to our skies, dismissing the borders (clouds do that), this one full of ashes from, please, repeat after me: Eyjafjallajokull.
Planes stuck on the grounds, passengers stranded all across northern Europe... Ironically, this happens during Easter school break, and train strikes.
Anyway, these ashes are a huge threat to plane engines - if I got it right - as they get in them and with the moisture in the air at these elevations, plus perhaps the heat in the engine, can form some sort of cement that can jam them.
Luckily, these ashes are absolutely not dangerous for our health. As the cloud is coming over our heads, we can hear repeated reassuring messages from our leaders and we all feel better.
However, in the back of my head, the name of Tchernobyl creeps back as I try to understand how small particles (invisible?) that can be sulfate, nitrate, ammonia, sodium chloride won't get in our lungs, and if they do, won't do any harm.
Looking up to the north - north west tonight, the skies look still pretty clear here. Unless what I think is the dusk creeping on us is actually something else...
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