Is a different Icelandic volcano about to act up?

An eruption pierces the glaciers at the Bárðarbunga volcano.

Oddur Sigurdsson, Iceland Geological Survey.

The Iceland Meteorological Office has increased the risk level of an eruption at the Bárðarbunga (or Bardarbunga) volcano after hundreds of earthquakes were reported over the weekend. The risk level has been set to orange, which is the fourth-highest rating on a five-level scale.

We asked Dave McGarvie, a volcanologist at The Open University, to explain what this means.

Should we be worried?

We have known for some time that Bárðarbunga was going to do something—we just didn’t know what. Because it is covered in ice, we rely on instruments to reveal its behavior.