What I did on my summer vacation - Wiley Online Library

4 downloads 0 Views 1MB Size Report
sediments along coasts [Kaplan,. 1974]. ... Kaplan, I. R., Natural Gases in Marine .... Roberta. Hotinski. AGU's 1999 Mass Media Fellow. Congressional Science.
Eos, Vol. 80, No. 46, November 16,1999 However, if we take a more pragmatic view than the ITST has done, and a c c e p t the obser­ vations at face value, then there are four perti­ nent observations that suggest a massive release of flammable and noxious gases con­ currently with the tsunami event: bubbling water, foul smell and stinging eyes, the wall of water with fire sparks flying, and severe burns widely observed on the dead. It is a well-known fact that large amounts of methane ( C H ) , carbon dioxide ( C 0 ) , a n d hydrogen sulfide ( H S ) gases may b e stored in high-porosity shallow, fine-grained sediments along coasts [Kaplan, 1974].Such gases o c c u r in two different modes in the seafloor sediments: as dissolved gases close to saturation in the sediment porewater and as free-gas bubbles of various sizes, ranging from microbubbles up to centimeter-sized bubbles [Hovland and Judd, 1988] .The obser­ vation of bubbling water strongly suggests the presence of shallow gas occurring in the coastal sediments off s o m e of the tsunami locations in Papua New Guinea in 1998. 4

2

2

The following alternate s c e n a r i o is there­ fore suggested to explain the observations mentioned above. For the locals, the tsunami event probably started in the classical man­ ner, by a sudden regress that lowered the s e a

level by a few meters. If a mixture of gases lurked in the porewaters 2-3 m b e l o w the seafloor, then s o m e of these gases would b e released to the atmosphere and to the seawater. This would a c c o u n t for the bubbling water observations. The c a u s e of the gas release was depressurization of confined gases. A sudden pressure release would also c a u s e gases dissolved in the porewater to exolve and enter the atmosphere. The next phase of the tsunami event would be when the advancing and rising wall of water hit the coastline at a speed of over 100 km per hour.The pressure wave immediately in front of the wave would probably push the toxic and flammable gas cloud at high speed in front of it. Ignition would probably o c c u r at several locations b e c a u s e of high rates of gas expulsion or acceleration. Combustion of the methane gas would therefore s e e m to b e syn­ chronous with the advancing and engulfing wall of water. People located near the b e a c h would first b e engulfed in the cloud of nox­ ious and burning gases before being violently transported by the water masses. In this sce­ nario there would b e a high possibility of finding severely burned victims. As in the aftermath of the Lake Nyos disas­ ter of Cameroon, 1986 [Kling et ai, 1987],

ABOUT A G U What I Did on My Summer Vacation PAGE 551 Imagine learning on Monday morning that you had to write an article on an area of sci­ e n c e you knew little about. Now imagine that the article had to b e finished by Thursday morning, in print by Friday, and scrutinized by millions on the following Monday morning. If you felt a rush of adrenaline reading that sce­ nario, then you have a sense of my fellowship experience this summer. Instead of scaling mountains or feverishly experimenting in the lab, I explored a strange new frontier: the world of s c i e n c e journalism. I spent ten weeks immersed in the tumult and fervor of a news organization, and now have a new apprecia­ tion for the art of s c i e n c e communication as well as a new sympathy for s c i e n c e writers that would benefit any researcher. The fellowship I embarked on is the crea­ tion of the American Association for the Ad­ vancement of S c i e n c e called a Mass Media Fellowship in S c i e n c e and Engineering. AGU has b e e n a sponsor of the program for several years, and provides funding for o n e of the fel­ lowships to encourage participation by young geoscientists.The purpose of the program is to improve communication between scientists

and the media by thrusting researchers into writing positions for popular media organizations.This is an extraordinary opportunity as fellows get to jump right into writing and skip the less exciting, and often unpaid, internships that budding journalists often endure. I ap­ plied in February, and in J u n e b e c a m e a part of the s c i e n c e desk at U.S. News & World Re­ port, a popular weekly news magazine that has over 2 million subscribers and about 12 million readers.The other fellows, all of whom were either working toward or had completed advanced degrees, were similarly assigned to newspapers, magazines, and radio and televi­ sion stations across the United States. The first thing I learned is that the c a r e e r of a s c i e n c e writer is a perpetual continuing education course. Within half an hour of arriving at my first Monday morning meeting, for example, I had b e e n assigned a story on a new paper about pain c e n t e r s in the brain. Before I could steel myself to call the re­ searcher, though, I had b e e n reassigned to a story on a report about the effects of lowfrequency e l e c t r o m a g n e t i c fields on h u m a n health.The next w e e k I covered an article detailing the variation of women's mate pref­ e r e n c e through the menstrual cycle, followed

when the C 0 - c h a r g e d lake (and probably sediments) erupted and killed hundreds of people and animals by suffocation, we will never b e able to reconstruct exactly what happened. But both of these events clearly demonstrate that unpredictable hydrodynamic, c h e m i c a l , and thermodynamic processes may o c c u r in marine and lacustrine environ­ ments where people live. 2

Author Martin

Hovland

Stavanger, Norway; E-mail: [email protected] References Hovland, M , and A. G. Judd, Seabed Pockmarks and Seepages, Graham and Trotman, London, 293 pp., 1988.

Kaplan, I. R., Natural

Gases in Marine

Sediments,

Plenum Press, New York, 324 pp., 1974. Kawata,Y, B. C. B e n s o n , J. C. Borrero, J. L. Borrero, H. L. Davies,W Pde Lange, F l m a m u r a , H. Letz, J. Nott,and C.E.Synolakis,Tsunami in Papua New Guinea was as intense as first t h o u g h t , E o s , Trans.,

AGU, 80,

\03-\05,\999.

Kling, G. W, M. A. Clark, H. R. Compton, J. D. Devine, W C. Evans, A. M. Humphrey, E. J. Koenigsberg, J. P Lockwood,M.L.Tuttle,and G.N.Wagner,The 1986 Lake Nyos gas disaster in C a m e r o o n , West Africa,

Science,

236,169-175,1987.

by x e n o t i m e dating of sedimentary rocks, a potential Alzheimer's v a c c i n e , the discovery of Dante's remains in a F l o r e n c e library, neur o s c i e n c e of the t e e n a g e brain, fiber optic c a b l e deployment in the United States, the s c i e n c e of human attraction, and forecasting of global warming. You c a n imagine the trepidation that a latestage Ph.D.student felt in tackling these top­ ics with so little prior knowledge. Many peo­ ple, including myself, have b e e n surprised at the breadth of my "beat," but I quickly learned that news abhors specialization.The reason scientists make good s c i e n c e writers is that they have a fundamental understanding of basic s c i e n c e , well-honed research and criti­ cal thinking skills, and, most importantly, a strong c o m p u n c t i o n to get the s c i e n c e right. Specialized knowledge may help a writer develop an area of expertise, but ultimately journalists n e e d to cover late-breaking stor­ ies, regardless of subject matter. This leads to s o m e humbling e x p e r i e n c e s , like the time I had to talk to a neuroscientist with no time to do background research, fervently hoping that he would tell m e the amygdala's e x a c t function before I had to ask. On the other hand, my s c i e n c e background was useful in recognizing important Earth sci­ e n c e news stories. For example, I begged to cover a story on a new technique for dating sedimentary rocks.The p i e c e might have run without my support, but certainly wouldn't have b e e n as ardently promoted. It m a d e my whole summer worthwhile to hear the word "Precambrian" uttered casually by writers, edi-

Eos,Vol. 80, No. 46, November 16,1999 tors, and artists around the magazine, and to know that 12 million people knew a little more about geology b e c a u s e of my story.This sort of influence, although seemingly small, is the reason I would encourage other geoscientists to participate in the program. Medical and health stories currently dominate s c i e n c e coverage in the popular media b e c a u s e they have an obvious appeal and newsworthiness. Earth s c i e n c e discoveries, in contrast, are of­ ten passed over b e c a u s e the significance to the general public is less apparent or b e c a u s e technical aspects of the stories make them too daunting for those without a background in the field to cover. By both encouraging well-trained scientists to enter journalism and increasing the media savvy of researchers, the Mass Media Fellows Program is a p h e n o m e n a l opportunity to increase the exposure of geo­ s c i e n c e s in the mass media and educate the public about the importance of g e o s c i e n c e .

endless questions you are more likely to hear from the reporter again and to have more in­ put into the story's development. • Think about your work in a larger context.The average reader doesn't care about new methods or standard deviations; he or she wants to know how this will benefit the average person. • Communicate your confidence. Reporters often talk with economists, industry represen­ tatives, government officials, and public inter­ est groups as well as researchers, and quotes from scientists often s e e m noncommittal or inconclusive when c o m p a r e d to other groups. If you c a n express your level of certainty in terms of odds or c o m m o n analogies, reporters will have something c o n c r e t e to emphasize. For example, you could characterize your cer­ tainty that global warming is upon us as c o m ­ parable to your belief that a ) the sun will rise tomorrow, b ) your kids will go to college or c ) you'll win the lottery

For researchers seeking more successful interactions with the mass media, I offer the most important lessons I learned at U.S. News: • Avoid jargon. If you are talking to a reporter and use phrases your average 14 year-old doesn't understand, odds are the writer will have to paraphrase you or an editor certainly will. Providing clear quotes is the best way to ensure your ideas are communicated as you intend them to be. • Make yourself available. Reporters often have to research and report stories in hours, so calling or writing b a c k as soon as possible is essential. Also, if you s e e m happy to answer

• Let the writer do the writing. Writers are paid to make the subject matter interesting and clear to the public, so their style and em­ phasis are bound to b e different than that of most researchers. Before you make objections to content, consider whether a story is actual­ ly inaccurate or just written differently than you would have written. S i n c e c o m i n g b a c k to Penn State I've al­ ready b e e n interviewed about my work by a budding s c i e n c e writer, and I c a n attest that my e x p e r i e n c e at U.S. News has m a d e m e a much better interviewee. I try to follow the advice above, and when I get frustrated I

Congressional Science Fellow Settles In On Capitol Hill

ing, oil and gas, na­ tional parks, and re­ lated public land and resource pro­ grams in the federal government. Early in his gradu­ ate career Bryan decided to consider e c o n o m i c and politi­ cal aspects of global climate c h a n g e as well as the s c i e n c e , stating in his application for the fellowship that "many key issues and policies which affect our energy consump­ tion, industrial production methods, transport­ ation types and extent, and agricultural prac­ tices are decided by policy makers in large part on their understanding of the scientific advice weighed against the competing inter­ ests of the parties affected by the proposed legislation." Bryan recently finished his Ph.D. in Earth systems s c i e n c e at the University of Cali­ fornia, Irvine, using computer models to study climate c h a n g e and atmospheric chemistry He earned an M.S. in engineering from U.C. Irvine in 1994 and a B.S. in meteorology from the University of Oklahoma in 1992.

PAGE 551 AGU's 23rd Congressional S c i e n c e Fellow Bryan Hannegan began his year-long tenure in Washington on September 1.Together with nearly 30 other Congressional S c i e n c e Fellows Bryan embarked on an intensive two-week ori­ entation. Despite the firehose blast of informa­ tion that the Fellows receive, most find the orientation useful as a first step before they head to Capitol Hill to s e e k placement for the year."It was an incredible crash course in everything you ever wanted to know about Washington," Hannegan c o m m e n t e d . O n c e ori­ entation ended, Bryan contacted a number of House and Senate committee and personal offices to s e e if his policy interests matched their needs for a Fellow After many interviews, he c h o s e to spend his fellowship year with the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Com­ mittee, which is the key authorizing and over­ sight committee in the Senate for all energy policy, energy research and development, min­

think about the wonderfully patient scientists who tolerated my ignorance all s u m m e r (particularly about the a m y g d a l a ) . And if the article about my research doesn't get pub­ lished, I'll r e m e m b e r how many times I was suddenly reassigned and forced to a b a n d o n stories that I wished I could get into print, and how the researchers I interviewed goodnaturedly forgave me. I'm glad I devoted ten weeks to under­ standing the fickle and challenging world of news and plan to use my new skills to aid public education efforts throughout my career. In the United States, only about half of elementary s c h o o l t e a c h e r s and parents polled say they are "very comfortable" answering children's s c i e n c e questions, fed­ eral funding for g e o s c i e n c e s has barely kept p a c e with inflation over the last d e c a d e , and a state board of education recently voted to e x c l u d e evolution from its teaching stand­ ards. It's c l e a r that improving public s c i e n c e literacy would benefit both scientists and non-scientists in this country, and that better c o m m u n i c a t i o n of s c i e n c e to laypeople would ameliorate disparities in s c i e n c e edu­ cation around the world. Improved relations b e t w e e n scientists and the m e d i a are critical to this effort, and I warmly r e c o m m e n d the AAAS program as a great p l a c e to start. Author Roberta Hotinski AGU's 1999 Mass Media Fellow

In the u p c o m i n g year, Bryan will focus on energy issues and legislation related to cli­ mate c h a n g e a n d electricity deregulation. "This c o m m i t t e e s e e m e d like a natural fit for my b a c k g r o u n d and interests," Bryan said,"and it is clearly an a r e a w h e r e b o t h sides of the d e b a t e look to s c i e n c e for help in making their case." Interested m e m b e r s of the AGU community can contact Bryan via e-mail at bryan_ [email protected]. The application deadline for the AGU 20002001 Congressional S c i e n c e Fellowship is Feb­ ruary 1,2000 ( s e e http://www.agu.org/sci_soc/ policy/congress_fellow.html/). Author Peter Folger,AGU Public Affairs Manager AGU Headquarters,Wash. D.C.,USA Editors Note: Bryan Hannegan and Roberta

Hotinski

will participate in a panel discussion on the AAA Congres­ sional and Mass Media Fellowship programs at the AGU Fall Meeting. The session will be held on Tuesday, Decem­ ber 14, at 12:00 Noon in Room 238,Moscone Center. Members interested in these Fellowship programs are encouraged to attend.