VOLCANO: Re: VOLCANO: Reactions to the L'Aquila verdict

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Re: VOLCANO: Reactions to the L'Aquila verdict
From: "Benedetto De Vivo" <bdevivo@xxxxxxxx>
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The recent conviction just issued by the Italian Court against the members of the Commission on Major Risks for Civil Protection, which was brought on behalf of the victims caused by the L'Aquila earthquake, has just unleashed in recent days strong reactions of condemnation by the broader scientific community - but which reactions are absolutely not justified, when viewed in regard to the real reasons that led the judges to issue their guilty verdict.

Given that the guilt of the CGR will become final only after a legally required 3 steps process, it should become immediately clear that the evaluations of the recent verdict are not only exaggerated but also totally erroneous. Those evaluations result from a widespread Italian tendency to take positions regarding proceedings of the Court not based on the facts that were discussed and debated in the courtroom, but solely on irrelevant information given by the media. It is very sad to see that also the international media and scientific organizations take a stand based on a total false assumption.

I must, therefore, strongly challenge the positions taken by several scientific colleagues who continue to falsely support the members of the Major Risks Committee, claiming (again falsely) that they were convicted because they had failed to "predict the earthquake". The truth is quite different. The scientists were officially charged for giving false assurances to the citizens of L'Aquila, and thereby misleading the population into a "false sense of security" which ultimately led them not to take simple and reasonable measures to safeguard their lives. In so doing they made an earthquake forecast.

With that said, I believe that researchers in charge of monitoring natural hazards, should put science first and maintain a clear independence from politics. A scientist should not act as a spokesperson for politicians behind the scenes, but should be loyal only to the scientific truth, by communicating honestly to citizens about scientific results and the limits of scientific knowledge.

But scientists are only able to be truly independent if they have been assigned positions purely on the basis of their scientific expertise and merit. However, if such positions are acquired based on personal bias, relationships or "association" and not on scientific competence, it is clear that the scientist loses their  autonomy. Therefore, in situations that arise which are critical to society, these scientists may with acquiescence support policies that have little to do with scientific truth. Conversely, unfortunately, the scientist who wishes to remain independent of politics, even if worthy of scientific respect, must expect to be marginalized from receiving research funds and from participating in such decisions, because of the backward logic of the system.

Prof. Benedetto De Vivo

Full Professor of Environmental Geochemistry

Department of Earth Sciences

University of Naples Federico II and

Adjunct Professor, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA

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