Dec 30

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It was a year of earthquakes and volcanoes, floods and toxic spills, but 2010 also saw thwarted terrorist attacks and the joyous release of 33 miners in Chile from the Earth's rocky depths.

The Icelandic volcano, located under a glacier, is spewing water vapor and fine-grained ash that can be damaging to aircraft engines. Derrick Ryall of the British Meteorological Office explains the challenges of measuring the size of the plume, where it…