In Ibsen’s, An Enemy of the People, Doctor Stockman believes that his work on the contamination of water in the local bath houses is imminently important to the survival of the baths and public health, that his report must be published. However, he gives little thought to the negative effects the publication of this report will have on the social and economic stability of the area. As a scientist, Doctor Stockman believes that “truth/facts” are the most important factors in making any decision throughout life. Although this has helped him in some instances, it has also kept him from “seeing the forest for the trees” in the case of his water quality report and its effects on the public. Fast forward to 1982, and some very interesting parallels appear between Ibsen’s play and events in Long Valley, California.
In the book Volcano Cowboys, author Dick Thompson describes the field of volcanology’s attempts to pinpoint when and where the “next big” volcanic eruption will occur globally. For months, scientists studied the “wake up” of Mount St Helens prior to the cataclysmic may 18, 1980 eruption in order to get a better understanding of the volcano, possible types of eruptions, their effects and when “the eruption” might occur. Although the hazard maps drawn by volcanologists were rather accurate when describing where pyroclastic flows, debris flows, etc. would occur, no one had any inkling that the volcano had the ability to erupt laterally. Mount St. Helen’s lateral eruption in 1980 proved to be one of the most devastating hazards after it killed some 57 people, injured countless others and obliterated features of the landscape as far away as the Columbia River. The scientists had learned a very hard lesson.
Two years after the 1980 eruption, geologists met in Long Valley, California, home to the Mammoth Lake resort. The oblong-shaped valley was also the site of a volcanic eruption that occurred about 760,000 years ago and was estimated to be 2,000 times larger than the Mount Saint Helens 1980 eruption (page 158). When scientists heard that seismic data showed that a possible magma body was moving towards the earth’s surface, similar to the pre-eruption behavior Mt Saint Helens had exhibited, they became alarmed. Within a month, the scientists had declared a “Notice of Volcanic Hazard” (the lowest warning level the US Geological Survey uses) for the area. Many residents thought they were nuts until a series of moderate earthquakes shook the valley and scared off most of the area’s tourism. Soon Long Valley was in an economic slump. This caused tensions to run high between the visiting scientists and residents. The scientists thought that they were doing a service to the community by alerting them of the danger of the caldera and by providing educational lectures about the local geology, how to prepare for a disaster, etc. They were blind however to the affects of their research and how that played out in the local economy as well as local, state and eventually national politics. Sadly however, this seems to be a norm in many areas of the scientific field. Through their education and beyond, scientists become wholly enveloped in their field(s) of expertise. This is good when people in scientific fields, like volcanology, can become more successful at educating the public on being prepared before, during and after “the next big” volcanic event. On the flip side however, these same brilliant people sometimes cannot comprehend “the ripples” their research, warnings, etc. have on the world at large, even if they have the best intentions. Perhaps more collaboration should occur between the sciences, humanities, arts, etc. so that science can become more effective at successfully educating the public and executing plans to minimize the damage to life and property in the event on an imminent disaster. Otherwise, science’s greatest strength, the obtaining of facts, truth, matter, etc., will forever be its greatest weakness.
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