in praise of situational awareness

Biscuit Basin alive

Actions create consequences sounds a phrase only pertaining to human behavior but that was never my intent. Clouds over the sun create shadows on a summer day as the moon passing in front of that same orange orb creates an eclipse. We don’t have anything to do with the actions themselves but certainly feel the consequences.

At times, amidst the fast and furious days we are experiencing, we forget that the entire planet we live on is a changing environment every single moment. Yes, we recognize tides ebbing and flowing but do we think much about beach erosion? Probably not that often, until our favorite Waikiki sands are gone, leaving us no where to sit as we see the sun arise over Diamond Head. Or we note that glaciers are disappearang over Greenland on those few days we can see them as we jet between Europe and the United States.

Rising sea levels are noteworthy to homeowners living from Maine to the Texas-Mexico border as higher levels increase the chances of flooding (particularly day-to-day flooding in Florida), greater damage during a hurricane as more water is there to push ashore when a storm does occur. Expansion of cities also sacrifices wetlands traditionally able to absorb some of the onshore effects hurricanes produce. Finally, less dry land is available for human coastal building as water levels rise. Homes near the lake shores of the Great Lakes similarly have seen change over the past decades but thankfully homeowners confront few massive basement floods as of now. These conditions, however, are something we have become accustomed to, thus tempting the odds since water levels continually rise.

Much of life is about risk tolerance but we often want risk certainty.

Attention centered on the Biscuit Basin boardwalk in Yellowstone National Park when a geothermal spot erupted as touristas walked on Monday. The thermal area exploded when the subsurface water of the area came into contact with magma or some other superheated rock.

Biscuit Basin (yes, I do find this a charming name) is less than three miles from Old Faithful which is a predictable geothermal eruption site. If you’ve never seen Old Faithful, you have missed a great event as the boiling salty water shoots high into the air at a time well predicted by the geologists; it’s quite fascinating. Monday’s explosion was more violent with rocks and debris flying through the air in addition to the boiling water. It was neat along the boardwalk until it wasn’t.

Video of the explosion illustrated a couple of things worth remembering. National parks often take us to nature (duh) where events may occur beyond our control no matter how hard we convince ourselves otherwise. We claim to go to observe, to learn, and to appreciate yet are surprised and uncomfortable by our lack of control. We are not as open to discovery as we thought in advance so much of the time.

Second, yes, geologic time does not appear to move before our eyes but the planet changes just as people or circumstances do. We are appropriately absorbed in the present most of the time but things occur every single day whether we recognize them or not. Sign up to read US Geologic Service earthquake reports: we have dozens of them somewhere in the country weekly. We often get indicators that something is changing yet it’s seductive and completely human that we put off thinking about their implications.

Tragically, 57 people died because of the 18 May 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helen’s volcano in southern Washington. The energy from that event was massively higher than what occurred in Yellowstone Monday so that is not my point of comparison. Many of those people died because they ignored warnings geologists circulating when the volcano’s internal dynamics starting changing fully seven weeks earlier. The actions by some who chose to camp at the foot of the volcano on the 17 May or even the heroic spotter who sent out a message as the volcano’s lateral eruption commenced led to deadly consequences. For others, they were overwhelmed by the aftermath of something completely beyond their control because of ash.

Mercifully, the people visiting Biscuit Basin appear, from press photos, to have escaped the hot blast debris. This was a reminder of why the Park Service provides boardwalks, signs, and guidance, even if we mortals think there is no risk.

In an era of distrusting “fake news”, would people ignore USGS advise should Mt. Rainer outside Seattle become geologically more overtly active? What if we had evidence Yellowstone itself, a caldera of a supervolcano, were showing signs of coming to life? I no longer know how to predict our behavior but do know that actions create consequences.

There is risk in anything and everything. How much risk tolerance each of us has is another question. My point here is that being aware Is most vital, if not less dangerous.

Awareness is also appropriate both to catch the beauty of natural phenomena, in my mind, or compare it to any Spa Creek sunset but in either case we have to see the phenomenon to appreciate it. Minutes pass in a heartbeat. To not cultivate awareness when possible may deprive us of a memorable event—bad or good.

Thank you for considering Actions today and any day. We are living in interesting times, of course, but wearying ones as well. If you find this or any other column worth sharing, please do. I also welcome any and all criticisms, comments, or queries.

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It was a dark morning on the Creek as we await more rain.

Dark

sunrises can be hauntingly special as the promise of clouds hiding the sun remind us of nature’s role in our daily lives.

Be well and be safe. FIN

“Explosions at Mt. St. Helens: How the Earth was Made”, history.org, 2021, retrieved at

Mead Gruver, Amy Beth Hanson, and Matt Brown, “Surprise blast of rock, water, and steam in Yellowstone sends dozens running for safety”, apnews.com 23 July 2024, retrieved at https://apnews.com/article/yellowstone-biscuit-basin-closed-explosion-b8d414abda4cfcd844ccadba81bb3590