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Re: [Phys-l] journalism




«Yellowstone National Park's supervolcano just took a deep
"breath," causing miles of ground to rise dramatically,
scientists report.»

1) True or false: The ground in the Yellowstone area is rising.
The land (at selected stations anyway) is significantly higher than it was
* 4 years ago (quite a bit).
* 10 years ago (just a little bit).
* 25 years ago.
* (probably also true over longer periods,but I don't see data handy.)

Yes, it *has* been dropping for about 1 year. Unless your geologically oriented timeframe is 1 year or less, the land IS rising. (Kind of like I don't say global warming has stopped when there is 1 year that is cooler than the previous year.)


2) True or false: This is dramatic news because the rate of
rise is new and/or newly discovered.
I'll leave "dramatic" up to the discretion of the reader. The end of the current uplift is "newly discovered". The methods of measuring the rates (satellites and GPS) are "newly discovered".
The amount of uplift seems a bit larger than the two previous events (from my quick check around the internet).



3) True or false: ... Nothing about this is new; the area has
a longstanding pattern of rising and falling...

News doesn't have to just be new -- it can also just be interesting (this is why there hot springs at Yellowstone), important (the supervolcano could kill millions of people when it next erupts!), or unusual (where else in the world has such a large area risen or fallen several inches in the last 5 years?).


I see nothing wrong with that topic sentence. It accurately and clearly and in an interesting manner provides some correct science news. The volcano DID just take a deep breath (from ~2004 - ~2010). Miles of ground DID just rise many inches in a few years (which IS dramatic compared to Kansas or New York or 99.99% of the world. It might be just a bit over-dramatic, but I rather like it when the news outlets are making science interesting.

There is no "Run for your life!" There is no "The Yellowstone Supervolcano is about to explode and wipe out all of North America!" If people have that mindset, this article provides information so they can make a more informed decision.



Tim