Comments on: "Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust..."

"Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust..."

azul — Sat, 30 Apr 2005 19:02:08 -0800

They were unschooled; he was a scientist. But when the Aeta of Zambales province reported through a nun Mount Pinatubo's initial signs of unrest in April 1991, Dr. Raymundo Punongbayan listened and trusted their indigenous mastery of their environment. It was through that mutual faith between the Aeta tribesmen and Punongbayan that efforts to save lives began for what turned out to be the world's worst volcanic eruption in the second half of the 20th century.

By: mert

mert — Sat, 30 Apr 2005 21:22:50 -0800

This seems a bit obscure at first, but on second thought it's certianly more relevant that Michael Jackson's trial. And way more interesting. Sort of reminds me how the indigenous islanders of Indonesia (or was it Thialand) were able to escape the reach of the tsunami because their oral tradition warned them about the significance of a receding tide.

By: alteredcarbon

alteredcarbon — Sat, 30 Apr 2005 23:13:33 -0800

My parents got evacuated out of Clark Air Base, which was 12 miles from Mt. Pinatubo. It was my home for 13 years. Good memories along with sad. Thanks for the good post and info.

By: the Real Dan

the Real Dan — Sun, 01 May 2005 07:40:29 -0800

Dr. Punongbayan's PHIVOLC saved thousands of lives by correctly forecasting the Pinatubo eruption. It gave me something to think about in this era of efficient, widespread, premeditated bloodletting. I remember the sudden onset of brilliant red sunsets after the Pinatubo eruption. The light show would be most visible about 45 minutes after local sunset. These sunsets happened every night thereafter for about 6 months in the San Francisco Bay area. From the excellent USGS url in the post, it appears the Pinatubo sunsets were caused by 17 megatons of SO2 injected into the stratosphere, yielding approximately 25 megatons of persistent sulfuric acid/water aerosol. All along I thought it was dust. Thanks, azul.

By: azul

azul — Sun, 01 May 2005 08:48:07 -0800

You are quite welcome. It is my humble way of honoring this compatriot; a scientist and a rare breed of bureaucrat in a corruption-riddled country. As a recent editorial in a local paper said: "His death was all the more tragic because he perished together with other upstanding Filipinos, including Phivolcs' chief geologist, who had turned down lucrative offers abroad to serve in government, and an Air Force pilot, who agreed to captain the mission even though he was officially on leave. All nine died after completing an "aerial assessment" of landslide danger zones..."

By: schyler523

schyler523 — Sun, 01 May 2005 10:51:00 -0800