At the time - late April 2010 - I can recall fears that the Icelandic volcano would continue erupting indefinitely. What if it did? Let's assume that the volcano continues erupting until the present day. I'm more interested in the immediate effects, as in those within the first six months, but feel free for longer-term speculation too. If anyone here can predict the extent of the ash cloud (ie would it wrap round the entire northern hemisphere?) then feel free to throw that in too.
Some things are obvious: with Europe grounded, the world would very quickly be dropped back into a severe recession, and we wouldn't see recovery even until today. (This would probably result in a Republican president in 2012 as Obama would probably have no credentials to his name.) This economic downturn, and the issue of European exports and imports being hit, would probably result in a big hit to living standards worldwide, particularly in Europe, where shortages of fresh food and maybe even rationing would occur. How this affects the Eurozone crisis and EU unity in general is something I'm not sure about. No doubt there'd be a host of changes, mostly negative, and a few quirks too - would the increased travel times for teams trying to get to the London 2012 games interrupt athletes' training schedules, altering medal share (particularly in Britain's favour)? There are many things that could result.
Does anyone have any ideas to share?