The world and its nature are known to perform various, usually amazing and important feats, all of which contribute to the function of our very planet. But extraordinary occurrences and events are not only limited within the atmosphere of Earth, far from it. A well known event is said to happen lately, one of which is said to only happen three times in a human lifetime. This event is none other than a solar eclipse, except much rarer, as it has been determined to be a “total eclipse.”
A total eclipse is said to only happen every 350 years, which adds up to the mass excitement surrounding the occurrence. This means that the moon will completely block out the sun for up to four minutes, but only a few states and areas within two countries in our general area will be able to view it completely. Based on a path map provided by NASA, the eclipse will only effect states starting in the south and into the north-east, while Cleveland, Ohio having the sun blocked out completely. As the day approaches, the excitement and enthusiasm has been thoroughly presented, but amongst it all, panic and fear is said to await, but why?
As many people researching a mass event, most of prone to clickbait. This is either through false headlines, sited or gathered information or getting the wrong idea from what they read. Even though legit headlines have surfaced, talking of certain warnings and precautions for the eighth, misinformation has already become infamous surrounding the eclipse. For most, getting misinformation is usually from reading a headline without reading the article, which can easily mislead from what is really meant. For instance, one of Al.com’s few articles on the eclipse reads: “National guard will be deployed for total solar eclipse on April 8. Of course, one would have to read the full article to understand the reasoning and context, but many only go by what the context of the headline looks to have. — Wyatt Harris
Some see it as an apocalypse starting during the eclipse, others see it as some kind of world-ending event to happen, which is what normally what is believed to happen in most cases of panic. But believe it or not, the true intentions of the warnings is because of the people themselves. Due to the limited appearance of the eclipse amongst a few states, preparations have been made in order to handle the influx of people, as thousand will likely flood into these states in order to capture the best view. As history has it, lots of people crowded into few spaces causes tension, traffic and quickly diminishing resources.
In fact, people may have been victim to headlines again, as from AL.com, another eclipse headline reads “April 8 total solar eclipse: Texas officials warn people to stock up on food ahead of solar eclipse,” which does not give much context on why, of course. The reason is because resources will quickly be swooped up by the mass amount of people, while also posing traffic risks that prevent travels. Despite headlines being affiliated with full context, pure clickbait and purposeful misinformation still exists under the topic.
Most potential misinformation, purposeful or not, usually has to do with common myths and religious occurences surrounding eclipses. To help with the panic and confusion, NASA’s official government website hosts a page that talks about solar eclipses, misconceptions and myths, which are provided with thorough explanations. When it comes to researching topics, always be sure to properly look into any questionable information, as panic can usually just be the result of a heap of misconceptions.
