Show Date: October 26, 2005  
Pam Eastlick for THE DEEP on line

DISASTER WEEK!
TROPICAL CYCLONES
INFLUENZA

Greetings and welcome to The Deep column and the deepest radio show on Earth. The Deep is the science talk radio program that takes you from the depths of the ocean to the farthest reaches of the universe. This week on The Deep, aired at 6:00 this evening on K-57, we’ll talk about natural disasters. Then we’ll have some expedition calls. Maybe we’ll hear from Bob Silvers. Or perhaps we’ll talk to Peter Melyan who is off-island on an expedition. We’ll also have some science news updates and we’ll be taking your phone calls. Tune in tonight and join host Jim Sullivan, Pam Eastlick and our expedition coordinator Peter Melyan for the latest in scientific news! Then log on to www.thedeepradioshow.com for more information on all the latest and deepest news!

SPINNING STORMS
It’s beginning to seem as though Mother Nature has finally gotten tired of these pesky humans and decided to do something about it. 2005 has certainly been a year for natural disasters from hurricanes/typhoons, to earthquakes to the threat of a killer pandemic. What’s next? Meteors? The Black Death? Volcanoes? Who needs terrorists with Mother Nature around?

It may seem as though things are heating up in the disaster department, but Earth has always been a very dangerous place to live. We humans have an exaggerated sense of our importance in the grand scheme of things. We may be intelligent, but we’re a long way from controlling or even understanding our environment.

Humans are also very self-oriented. This is a good thing, as it tends to lead to personal survival. We’ve watched all these horrible disasters in the southern United States, in Pakistan, in the Indian Ocean and breathed a sigh of relief because they haven’t affected us. Anatahan has stopped erupting, we haven’t had any major earthquakes for a while and . . . say . . . . what’s happened to all our typhoons?

Typhoon Chataan

It’s been a very quiet year for typhoons for Guam, but it’s been a very busy season for them in the Pacific. There have been 22 named storms so far this year (one more than the record just set in the Atlantic) and a significant number of them have formed north of Guam. I’m not a weather expert (although living here makes all of us a little more ‘expert’ about tropical cyclones than your average Joe who lives in the mainland US) but this seems a little unusual.
Is global warming causing the formation band for typhoons to move north? This might be a good thing for us. Global warming isn’t all bad, you know, it’s opening vast areas of northern Canada for farming. Of course, having the formation band move north is probably not a good thing for Japan and Taiwan. Several weeks ago on The Deep, we discussed the consequences of trying to control tropical cyclones. If you steer them away from you, they just go and dump on someone else who probably will NOT like the favor!

As I said, I’m not a weather expert, but this week on The Deep we will have one and we’ll be discussing how global warming is affecting storm formation and intensity both in the Atlantic and here in the western Pacific. Don’t miss it!

SECOND SUBTITLE
Last week, we talked about the incredible menace of avian influenza, commonly called ‘bird flu’. This deadly killer of poultry and other birds seems poised to mutate into an even deadlier killer of human beings.

So how vulnerable are we to bird flu here on Guam? We’re not in as much risk as other places for a couple of reasons. We don’t get many migratory birds from Southeast Asia. Most of our migrating birds are either sea birds that don’t mingle with domestic birds or come from Siberia or Alaska. A migrating bird might be infected, but we’re a long way from anywhere and they would likely die before they reached Guam. We also no longer allow the importation of live poultry (including fighting cocks). This will go far toward keeping bird flu from our shores.

But we do import tons of poultry every year. You see it on every fiesta table. Are you at risk from eating infected poultry? Flu viruses are deadly, but they are very vulnerable to heat and cold. Our imported chickens, turkeys, ducks and geese are all frozen and safe to eat.

It’s important to remember, however, that ALL poultry should be cooked. A man in Thailand died from eating a (uncooked) duck blood pudding made from the blood of an infected bird. Certainly not a way I would get avian flu, but food is a matter of taste!

No, Guam’s risk will come when (and if) this avian virus mutates to allow it to pass directly from human to human. If this occurs in a place where many humans are infected before the danger is realized (flu is contagious before the infected person has symptoms), the flu will sweep the world and millions of people will die.

If this happens, should Guam close its borders to ships and planes before the flu reaches us? Can we survive here without daily input of food, fuel and medicine? Will there be enough medicine and doctor care if the flu arrives before we have a chance to close our borders? All very important questions that we’ll be discussing tonight on The Deep. Don’t miss it!

Whether we’re learning about spawning tropical cyclones or thinking about the flu, The Deep, hosted by Jim Sullivan with Pam Eastlick and Peter Melyan is the place to be on K-57 tonight at 6:00 p.m. Don’t miss it!