Publication Date:
2023-09-29
Description:
In the past, environmental crises (like volcanic eruptions, or earthquakes) were seen as an opportunity by European scientists to 'drop in', make measurements, gather samples and return home to share their knowledge with other European scientists. This colonial history has left two legacies. First, while there are detailed reports of some of these past crises in European libraries, museums and archives, a lot of this information is only accessible to people who are able to visit in person. Second, the importance of local observers, and the value of their observations, has often been overlooked, or forgotten. We present details from both eruptive and non-eruptive crises on three volcanic islands of the Caribbean: St. Vincent, Montserrat and Dominica, from 1890 - 2000. This includes several major eruptions (1902, 1979; St Vincent; 1995- Montserrat), and earthquake activity associated with volcanic unrest (1934-1939, Montserrat; 1937 Dominica). We have uncovered information about the impacts of volcanic activity, and the responses of decision-makers. The uncertainty of volcanic unrest is particularly difficult to cope with, and decisions are delayed or not taken that could lead to disaster. Valuable observations and measurements made by observers are overlooked, we have been able to use these to reconstruct activity and will share their value in this presentation. Finally, networks are not just instrumental, they obstruct as well as circulate data and information. We will also share our new open-access digital repository for these documents and the lessons for crisis response today from the historical record.
Language:
English
Type:
info:eu-repo/semantics/conferenceObject
Permalink