Science during crisis: The application of interdisciplinary and strategic science during major environmental crises

Abstract

On the French Caribbean island of Martinique in late April 1902, La Commission Sur le Volcan (Commission on the Volcano) met to decide a course of action. The island's Mt. Pelée was sending steam and smoke skyward, the smell of sulfur was in the air, and swarms of insects were moving down the mountain into neighboring cane fields. Frequent earthquakes and a thin layer of ash had set the population (particularly in the coastal city of St. Pierre) on edge and created a sense of crisis. The Commission included doctors, pharmacists, and science teachers, all appointed by the Governor. They discussed the potential of an eruption and what precautions, including evacuation, should be considered. The island was in the midst of general elections, complicating a response. After several meetings, the Commission made its decision, and announced "There is nothing in the activity of Pelée that warrants a departure from St. Pierre...the safety of St. Pierre [is] absolutely assured." Posters were placed throughout the town announcing the public's safety.