As the Light Dies (10 page)

“
Whoa check out old carrot top
,”
said Gavin.

Dean did
n’
t respond to his younger brothe
r’
s childish remark he just said
,
“Shush Gavin. Listen.”

Shelly continued on screen
.“
Let me introduce Professor Andrew Gunn, lecturer of science and biodiversity at Edinburgh University. Thank you for taking the time to talk to us Professor
.
”

“
I
t’
s quite alright
,”
he said in a mild mannered tone.

“
Firstly
,”
said Shelly
,“
what light can you shed on the suspected volcanic eruption in Norway? I sa
y
suspected
,
because although some say it has to be an undiscovered or long inactive volcano, others are saying that in is
n’
t behaving like one
.
”

“
Well personally
I
strongl
y
believe that this eruptio
n
i
s
from a previously undiscovered volcano like you said, or even perhaps a newly formed volcano. After all Norway was once alive with volcanoes. The
y’
re all long extinct now
,
or at least they were
!

The north of the country was once alive with volcanic activity. You can find remains of volcanic lava fields all across northern Norway, in fact many of the countries northern islands were formed by volcanoes. So for anyone to say i
t’
s geographically impossible, or unlikely o
r
whateve
r
there saying is simply ridiculous, and in fact blatant misinformation. In fact its scaremongering, because if i
t’
s not a volcanic eruption then what is it supposed to be. If it was a bomb of some kind like some people are hinting at on the internet, it would
n’
t be emitting ash like it is, like I said, i
t’
s just scaremongering
!
”

“
Thank you Professor. Now, how worried should we all be? W
e’
ve all seen and heard the reports of the chaos caused across Europe, we know the site continues to erupt from satellite images and now i
t’
s drifting our way. What I mean Professor is, what can we expect when we have scientists suggesting a repeat of 1816, th
e
infamou
s
year with no summer following the catastrophic eruption of Mount Tambora which caused a global climate anomaly dropping the eart
h’
s temperature from blocking out the sun and in turn causing
a
globa
l
food shortage. Do you think we could be about to witness another year without a summer Professor
?
”

“
Well
,”
said the Professor
,“
as much as i
t’
s impossible to say at this point, I would say that tha
t’
s just more scaremongering. However I do think i
t’
s safe to say that we as in Europe, are in for a rough time, how rough remains to be seen. The eruption could stop in ten minutes time and with the current westerly winds the remaining bulk of the cloud would be taken out over the Atlantic Ocean in a few days where it would break up and simply dissipate in to nothing. Even if it was
n’
t taken by the winds but stopped erupting in ten minutes or so then I would expect that within ninety six hours the majority of the ash would have dropped from the atmosphere and settled, and the clean up process begun
.
”

“
And if the eruption continues
?”
said Shelly.

“
Well, if it continues to erupt at it
s
curren
t
rate for a few more weeks, then I think that Europe may well have its year without a summer, but not until then
.
”

“
Ok Professor thank you. Now what can you tell us about the increasing numbers of fatalities recorded so far? Why is it affecting so many people in such a terrible way
?
”

The Professor took a deep breath and sighed.

“
Well
,”
he said
,“
sadly the fatality rate could well continue to rise due to the large amounts of poisonous gasses erupted from volcanoes....Shelly cut in
,“
And this is where we come back to the debate of whether or not it is a volcanic eruption, because the scientists studying the fallout near the scene in Norway reported that they had
n’
t seen anything like it before. Would
n’
t it be immediately obvious
,
to them of all people
,
if this was volcanic activity from the fallout. Sadly of course they did
n’
t have time to explain their findings before two of them died and the remaining members of the group became increasingly hostile towards reporters and shut them out just before all communications were lost with them. What do you think they found that was so different Professor, and do you think that whatever it is could be behind the shocking number of fatalities and even the strange power outages across all of the countries blighted by the ash
?
”

The Professor cleared his throat before answering
.“
First off, I think the hostility towards the reporters was simply brought on by the sudden loss of their colleagues coupled with the fact that they had very important work to be done, and I believe that they themselves were displaying symptoms of illness at the time
.
”

Shelly nodded and said
,“
But was
n’
t it in their best interests to get the word out on what they found that they thought was so strange and different to what the
y’
d seen before? By getting the word out they could have helped others to better understand and prepare for what might be coming, if indeed it is related to the fatalities? Surly their first priority should have been to warn as many as possible, do
n’
t you agree Professor
?
”

“
Yes, of Course I agree. But until we can communicate with them again after everything settles down, all anyone can do is speculate, and tha
t’
s no good for anyone, and that is wh
y
we’r
e
here setting up our field laboratory. W
e’
re here to find the answers everyone so desperately wants, and needs and onc
e
w
e
ourselves get to examine the material,
I’
m sure w
e’
ll come up with some much needed answers. As for the sad number of fatalities, I can tell you that history has shown and taught us that concentrated amounts of volcanic gas can be extremely toxic when inhaled, so I can assure you that there is nothing strange or unbeknown about the harmful effects from the fallout that we are seeing
.”
Shelly went to speak but the Professor kept on talking.

“
And I say volcanic gas because that is what
I’
m positive we are dealing with here. Ther
e’
s nothing new or strange about it. I
t’
s a volcano plain and simple, however what the Norwegian scientists found that they thought to be so out of place could be any number of things from ash temperatures to the type of rock they were finding being emitted, or the size of the rock, whatever it is w
e’
ll know as soon as we start to examine the material. And as for the wide spread power loss that
I’
m sure is yo
u’
re next line of enquiry,
I’
m certain is a direct result from the vast amounts of ash and snow weighing down and overwhelming the overhead power lines. However I cannot comment on why the vehicles and machines, military or otherwise are losing charge in their batteries. That is quite strange, but again this is something that we need to examine further and gather facts on before I can comment further. I can assure you though that as soon as we find anything
,
unusual or otherwise
,
we will announce it straightaway
.
”

Shelly nodded unfazed by his persistence to talk over her
.“
Ok. Thank you Professor, now can you please tell us what precautions you and the other scientists are taking to keep yourselves safe against any negative affects you might suffer from, from working in such close proximity with the ash. With the increasing fatality rate that were all well aware of and as we just mentioned, the deaths of the Norwegian scientists thought to be linked to their exposure to concentrated amounts of the fallout
?
”

“
W
e’
ll be taking precautions just like we would with any potentially hazardous substance, w
e’
ll all be wearing full body contamination suits at all times with our own oxygen supply. Were also setting up some airtight decontamination rooms both for observation purposes and for our own needs, rest, first aid and so on, so
I’
m afraid Shelly that if you want to report from the hot spot yo
u’
ll have to suit up with us as well
.
”

Shelly rolled her eyes at the camera candidly
.“
I get all the good jobs
,”
she said
.“
Before you have to go Professor, can you give the viewers at home any information as to the best way that they can stay safe at home
?
”

“
Certainly
,”
sighed the Professor visibly eager to get on now
.“I’
d recommend that people stay inside and keep their windows and doors closed and only open their front doors for the absolute minimum amount of time needed when coming or going, to minimise the amount of ash getting in to your homes. Do
n’
t hover on the doorstep, just get in or out quickly and get the door closed. And because not everyone will be able to avoid going outside,
I’
d advise that they keep a dust mask on at all times. If you can get hold of a good quality industrial dust mask then great, if not then double up those little disposable paper ones being handed out from post offices and supermarkets, and do
n’
t stay in dirty clothes after being outside. Get out of them as soon as possible, but while you do, leave your mask on while you do or yo
u’
ll only expose yourself to the ash dust tha
t’
s gathered on your clothes as you disturb it, and I think tha
t’
s about it for now
.”
He glanced behind him at the progress being made setting up the field lab, then back to Shelly
.“
Thank you Professor, that sounds like sound advice
.
”

“
Quite alright, now I really must get on, if yo
u’
d please excuse me
.
”

“
Yes of Course
,”
said Shelly and before sh
e’
d finished speaking the Professor had gone, disappearing off screen revealing the men in their orange suits behind him still busy setting up.

Several computer monitors were now visible having been set up on the steel tables along with what looked like manual scales and test tube racks beside microscopes. Shelly faced the camera again.

“I’
ll also add that the government also advise that people stock up on essentials and be prepared to ration what you consume until an aid system is put in to place in your area, and also not to venture too far from safety in your cars once the ash starts to settle due to the previous reports from the military in Europe of their vehicles becoming stranded for some as yet unknown reason. Do
n’
t put yourself in a vulnerable position, and finally be prepared for very loud and very bright thunder and lightning. I
t’
s being caused by particles in the ash cloud colliding and rubbing against each other creating friction, i
t’
s an occurrence often experienced during volcanic eruptions from all the particles of rock in the air
.
”