As any geologist will tell you, it's a bad idea to put houses on the southeast side of the Big Island of Hawaii, where active lava flows have been moving since 1984, resulting in the destruction of one entire subdivision, the Royal Gardens.
Yet who is the blame for the insurance premium increases, according to homeowners? The USGS, of course.
An article discusses the situation of one homeowner:
"...her premiums are skyrocketing now even though her neighborhood hasn't seen new lava since 1790. 'I just keep looking and looking at these maps and (they don't) make any sense.'"
The maps "don't make any sense"?
What part of:
1) lava is flowing uphill from you right now,
2) lava has flowed where your house is as recently as 1790,
3) therefore, there is a high risk lava will do so again in the next few years
does not make any sense?
This is another example of the inability of the public to acknowledge that science actually means something more than guesswork and mystical beliefs.
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