DON'T TAKE MY WINGS AWAY
'I will recycle,
I'll use my bicycle,
I'll turn the heating down,
I'll fill my kettle halfway,
Listen to everything else you say ...
But don't take my freedom away,
Don't take my holidays,
Don't take my time away,
Don't take my wings away ....'
says the chorus from the song 'Flying' written by Shannon Smy of Seize the Day.
For three days now our wings have been taken away. By a volcano in Iceland. With no chance for Willie Walsh of British Airways to slap on an injunction to stop the volcano doing what volcanoes occasionally do.
Many people have been seriously inconvenienced, including my friend who is stranded in Barcelona. Nevertheless, the world has not ended. Around airports and under flight paths tranquillity has been restored. Life goes on.
We do not yet know for how many more days our skies will be free of planes.
Perhaps the volcano has provided a reality check on flying.
Showing posts with label Mud Volcano. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mud Volcano. Show all posts
Saturday, 17 April 2010
Saturday, 1 November 2008
Science and the Mud Eruption
In East Java, Indonesia, earthquakes and mud volcanoes are common. But a bitter dispute has raged over the cause of an eruption of the Lusi mud volcano. When Lusi erupted in May 2006, it coincided with both an earthquake and drilling for oil and gas.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7699672.stm
A meeting of 74 geologists in Cape Town came down 57% blaming the drilling; 4% the earthquake; 17% both; and 23% said the evidence was inconclusive.
Science is often a matter of probabilities.
Establishing the cause of the eruption is important. Thirteen people died, 30,000 were displaced, and there is a huge compensation claim against the drilling company Lapindo Brantas.
The point I am making is this case illustrates that in geophysical science, as in other fields of science, the evidence is often not clear cut. Careful informed systematic evaluation of all the available evidence is essential; and a willingness to change one's mind when evidence swings against the prevailing view. This point equally applies to the vastly more complex global warming debate.
In East Java, Indonesia, earthquakes and mud volcanoes are common. But a bitter dispute has raged over the cause of an eruption of the Lusi mud volcano. When Lusi erupted in May 2006, it coincided with both an earthquake and drilling for oil and gas.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7699672.stm
A meeting of 74 geologists in Cape Town came down 57% blaming the drilling; 4% the earthquake; 17% both; and 23% said the evidence was inconclusive.
Science is often a matter of probabilities.
Establishing the cause of the eruption is important. Thirteen people died, 30,000 were displaced, and there is a huge compensation claim against the drilling company Lapindo Brantas.
The point I am making is this case illustrates that in geophysical science, as in other fields of science, the evidence is often not clear cut. Careful informed systematic evaluation of all the available evidence is essential; and a willingness to change one's mind when evidence swings against the prevailing view. This point equally applies to the vastly more complex global warming debate.
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