Let's Get Geological, Geological

As a recently married nephew honeymooned in Italy—Venice to begin—I thought of Vesuvius 300 miles to the south and the eruption in 79 that buried Pompeii and Herculaneum. This volcano that last erupted in 1944 looms near a Naples today with a population well over 3 million.

Of course, here in the US we have our own volcanoes for experts to monitor and to worry about. A 2018 update by the US Geological Survey listed the five most dangerous as Mt. Kilauea in Hawaii, Mts. St. Helen and Rainier in Washington, Redoubt in Alaska, and Mt. Shasta in California.

For many folks volcanoes may seem too remote to give much of a thought to much less a second one. But a lot of us here and abroad are primed to take a beat down from the forces that may be unleashed during the course of our lives.

No less a part of the equation of geological processes is the fact of our human population exploding in the past century—may go from 3 billion to nearly 9 billion in my lifetime. And we are anchored onto a moveable crust and subjected to a whirlwind of threats.

Think of our major metropolitan areas, and what a checklist. Earthquake zones, check. Volcanic zones, check. Flood zones, check. Tropical storm zones, check. Tornado zones, check.

We are but passers-by when compared to, say, Vesuvius, which is estimated to be 17,000 years old. The Social Security actuarial chart has me most likely making it to a little over 84.

Take heart those who have reached 65, 1 of 4 expected to reach 90, 1 of 10 to make 95.

Geologists routinely spout numbers in the million and millions of years. No, billions—the Blue Ridge Mountains, 1.2 billion years old, but youngsters compared to South Africa’s Makhonjwa dated to be 3.5 billion years old.

Like a 22-year-old, and then me. The Himalayas? Children, as mountains go. Merely 450 million years old. Punks. Like an 8-year-old. Okay, maybe not punks. I know some sweet youngsters around that age.

Perhaps these timescales are on my mind because I see so many references to 2030 and 2050 and 2100 as part of climate assessments. I’ve got a chance, 10%, at 2050, or nearly.

Thirty-one years seem so far off? Hurricane Hugo’s 30^th anniversary approaches. Thirty years ago? Nah, for a lot of folks seems like yesterday.