Respect in the face of desolation

Tunneling through mountains, creating entire islands where once open ocean dominated, razing swathes of forest  – this is big engineering to meet big ambition; engineering which many would class as a defining characteristic of human kind. And with it we transform the very morphology of the Earth as we literally shape the world around us. Yet there are often reminders that our engineering prowess – as staggering as it can be – is no match for nature.  One such comes in the stately yet determined destructive force of a lava flow. There have been many attempts to beat this mesmeric foe – yet most have met with failure. Perhaps one of the more successful came in 1973 when the Eldfell volcano threatened the Icelandic Island of Haimy. On 23^rd January of that year, without any hint of a warning, the volcano thrust its way onto the global map and in doing so caused a major crisis for the inhabitants of the town of Vestmannaeyjar. Shortly after the eruption began the entire population was evacuated; lava flows were slowly but surely making their way to the town and its harbour – the main source of income for the island. The situation certainly looked bleak, but some promising research had just been done suggesting that if the leading edge of the flow could be sufficiently cooled, then it may – just may – solidify prematurely and stop. As a small island nestled in the North Atlantic and Artic oceans – there was an obvious choice of cooling medium.  And, almost five months and 6.8 billion litres of sea water later the hypothesis was, with much relief no doubt, shown to be correct. A fifth of the town was destroyed, but the harbour was saved all because the lava was cooled, slowed and diverted. Engineering had again taken on nature – and while perhaps a win is overstating it, I think at least a score-draw could be claimed. This, however, is an outcome notable for its rarity. An exception proving the rule that the raw power of volcanic activity is seldom contained.  A thought that was perhaps prominent in the minds of the people that a few weeks ago gathered in a hall on Hawaii’s Big Island. A day earlier the Island had declared a state of emergency as the lava flow from the continuously erupting Kilauea volcano drew closer than a mile from the residential community of Kahoe. As we have seen in the past, engineering has given them options – be that cooling, diverting or even bombing (amazingly, this has been attempted at least three times) – yet the people of Kahoe seem acutely attuned to their environment. At the time of writing many in the community wanted the flow just to take its course, with one saying “It’s like trying to move the moon because it is too bright.” I think there is something wonderful about this innate respect, even more so when the respect given comes from those facing such desolation. That isn’t to say we should throw in the towel, but when the molten earth bubbles and spits its way to the surface – defense is only possible with robust knowledge. Know your enemy goes the old saying ­– and on page 32 we hear about some remarkable research which could allow us to do just that.