Volcano Fun-Documentaries & Books

Is there any end to my interest in volcanoes? No. There is not. On January 14, 2005, Friday night, other people were probably out having a beer, but I was seated in front of the television riveted by a night of documentaries on volcanoes, which included Nature: Violent Hawaii, Nova: Volcano's Deadly Warning and Nova: Volcano Above the Clouds.

My favorite documentary on volcanoes is Nova: Volcano's Deadly Warning because the events detailed in that documentary were written about in two books: No Apparent Danger: The True Story of Volcanic Disaster at Galeras and Nevado Del Ruiz, written by Victoria Bruce, and Surviving Galeras, written by Stanley Williams and Fen Montaigne. These books have competing narratives about the tragic events at Galeras, an active volcano in Columbia. During a conference, scientists visited the crater of Galeras after a controversial scientist, Stanley Williams, said that it was safe. A number of people were killed and injured in the ensuing eruption.

The tragic event resolved the debate between clashing scientific theories of how to predict a volcanic eruption. Bernard Chouet believed that eruptions could be predicted by looking at seismograph results whereas Williams asserted that it could only be determined by measuring the gases that came out of fumeroles. In the end, Chouet was proved right, but the real controversy started after Williams recovered from his devastating injuries inflicted by Galeras. Williams made the rounds on news magazines such as Dateline and the Today Show, allegedly claiming that he was the only survivor and started espousing Chouet's theory as if it was his own.

Other scientists were outraged because there were more survivors than Williams, and it was well known that he did not originally believe in the reliability of seismograph results, especially considering that if he did and had glanced at the seismograph results the day before the Galeras expedition, he would have cancelled the event and prevented any tragedy from unfolding.

Bruce's book takes this position whereas Williams uses the book to essentially explain any discrepancies in his story by saying that he may have mischaracterized events due to his extensive head injuries.

At any rate, I was so excited to see Nova: Volcano's Deadly Warning because it was the ultimate vindication of merit over media savvy/office politics. Chouet finally got the recognition that he deserved without excorciating a survivor and victim of a volcano explosion. Well done, Chouet! It was also a privilege to see the other survivors and rescuers after reading about them.

Marta Calvache, a Colombian geologist, was interviewed, but the documentary should have explicitly focused on her bravery and skill as the main one who rescued Williams and the other survivors. To be fair, the focus of the documentary was limited to the theories, not the actual tragedy, so if you would prefer to learn more about the human story as well as the scientific controversy, then I would suggest reading the books.

Nova: Volcano Above The Clouds does focus on the human side of scientific exploration. The documentary tries to explain that the scientists wanted to climb Kilimanjaro to see whether or not there is a risk of a violent landslide and determine what is causing the shrinking of the mountain's glaciers. Both elements could destroy the ecology of the Tanzanian countryside. On the other hand, these scientists are like most people who want to climb the highest mountain in Africa. Robin Buxton and Michael Ngatolowa have the most compelling reasons for climbing it.

Robin is disabled because of polio and as a naturalist, does not want his disability to prevent him from seeing the very thing he has studied all his life. Michael, like most locals, has not climbed this world famous mountain and is entranced by the distant image of snow in his warm homeland. They steal the show, and their friendship and efforts to climb this mountain is almost more interesting than Kilimanjaro itself.

Finally, Nova: Violent Hawaii is not limited to volcanoes, but also focuses on the dangerous wild life (i.e. humpback whales, believe it or not) and other natural forces such as immense waves on the North Shore of Maui and tsunamis. The footage is beautiful to watch and a good documentary for those who do not want to watch a hard core science documentary.