4 ms·

Planning for the next Vesuvius eruption

18 points by deegles 11y ago

untethered 11y ago
Let's concetrate on constructing robot-powered orbital space stations, and worry about the volcanoes later. When's the last time a volcano came close to messing up a space station? Where are all those carbon nanotube space elevators[1][2] we were supposed to be building? [1] http://archive.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2003/02/57536 http://archive.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2003/02/57... [2] http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-02/22/space-elevator-2050 http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-02/22/space-elevato...
- jfaat 11y ago
  Your comment comes off as quite callous considering the potential loss of life involved with this impending disaster.
tobltobs 11y ago
If you want to know how good Italy will handle such a catastrophe you could take a look at the outcome of the earthquake in L'Aquila in in 2009. This area is a known earthquake area. The earthquake was rated 5.8 or 5.9 on the Richter scale. 380 people died. Lot's of "earthquake-proof" buildings were damaged. For example L'Aquila new hospital had to be closed. Around 40.000 people were made homeless and had to live in tented camps for weeks, many for months. They were more or less left alone and had to depend on relatives or foreign help organizations. Official support was more or less non existent. In a "normal" country an earthquake like this one would not have killed more than ten persons. There haven't been much consequences after this embarrassing fiasco apart of that an Italian court convicted seven scientists and experts of manslaughter for failing to adequately warn citizens before the earthquake struck. (This ruling was overturned later.) A large eruption of Vesuvius will cause a thousands of dead's and Italy will be toast and the new Greece. Too make it even more depressing there is not even a way to prepare for this event and change that outcome. All money spent for this will land in the pockets of politicians and the mafia, whereby in Naples they are the same anyway.
jfaat 11y ago
This could well be the most disastrous natural event in our lifetimes. Good luck getting the warnings of scientists to sink in with Neapolitans. They know it's going to blow, but almost no one will leave to avoid it.

18 points by deegles 11y ago

Let's concetrate on constructing robot-powered orbital space stations, and worry about the volcanoes later. When's the last time a volcano came close to messing up a space station? Where are all those carbon nanotube space elevators[1][2] we were supposed to be building? [1] http://archive.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2003/02/57536 http://archive.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2003/02/57... [2] http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-02/22/space-elevator-2050 http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-02/22/space-elevato...

jfaat 11y ago
Your comment comes off as quite callous considering the potential loss of life involved with this impending disaster.

tobltobs 11y ago

If you want to know how good Italy will handle such a catastrophe you could take a look at the outcome of the earthquake in L'Aquila in in 2009. This area is a known earthquake area. The earthquake was rated 5.8 or 5.9 on the Richter scale. 380 people died. Lot's of "earthquake-proof" buildings were damaged. For example L'Aquila new hospital had to be closed. Around 40.000 people were made homeless and had to live in tented camps for weeks, many for months. They were more or less left alone and had to depend on relatives or foreign help organizations. Official support was more or less non existent. In a "normal" country an earthquake like this one would not have killed more than ten persons. There haven't been much consequences after this embarrassing fiasco apart of that an Italian court convicted seven scientists and experts of manslaughter for failing to adequately warn citizens before the earthquake struck. (This ruling was overturned later.) A large eruption of Vesuvius will cause a thousands of dead's and Italy will be toast and the new Greece. Too make it even more depressing there is not even a way to prepare for this event and change that outcome. All money spent for this will land in the pockets of politicians and the mafia, whereby in Naples they are the same anyway.

jfaat 11y ago

This could well be the most disastrous natural event in our lifetimes. Good luck getting the warnings of scientists to sink in with Neapolitans. They know it's going to blow, but almost no one will leave to avoid it.