 |
| Oil Makes Plastic Water Bottles via Politicol News |
 |
| Plastic Bottles in China |
 |
| At a Landfill Site |
 |
| A Sea of Plastic via Chris Jordan |
 |
| Plastic Waste via The Tomorrow Company |
Source:
Politicol News
Dishfunctional Designs
Chris Jordan
The Tomorrow Company
Monday, May 28, 2012
Polluting the Planet With Plastic
Source:
Politicol News
Dishfunctional Designs
Chris Jordan
The Tomorrow Company
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Green Roofs in Big Cities Bring Relief From Above
By Tina Rosenberg
The other problem is storm water runoff. In New York, as in about a fifth of American cities, there is only one sewer system to conduct both rainwater and wastewater. About every other rainfall in New York, sewers flood and back up, discharging their mix of rainwater and wastewater into the city’s waterways. It doesn’t take much to overload New York’s sewers — it can take only 20 minutes of rainfall to start water from toilets flowing into Brooklyn’s waterways. The water does more than flood streets. It makes us sick — cases of diarrhea spike when sewers overflow. When sewers back up, polluted water runs into our lakes and oceans, closing beaches.
Putting
living vegetation on the roof is not a new idea. For thousands of years people have made sod
roofs to protect and insulate their houses, keeping them cooler in summer and
warmer in winter. The modern movement
for green roofs began in the last 50 years in Europe. Germany, where about 10 percent of roofs are
green, is the leader; some parts of Germany require green roofs on all new
buildings.
An extensive
roof — less than 6 inches of soil planted with hardy cover such as sedum — can cost $15 per square foot. An intensive
roof — essentially a garden, with deeper soil and plants that require watering
and weeding — can double that. But because the vegetation is thicker, it will
do a better job of cooling a building and collecting rainwater. Plants reduce
sewer discharge in two ways. They retain rainfall, and what does run off is
delayed until after the waters have peaked.
A Columbia
University study of three test roofs built by Con Edison in Queens found that
the green roof — an extensive roof, planted with sedum — cut the rate of heat
gained through the roof in summer by 84 percent, and the rate of heat lost
through the roof in winter by 34 percent.
Another
Columbia study (same researchers, same Con Ed test sites) found that green
roofs are a very cost-effective way to reduce storm water runoff. If New York has one billion square feet of
possibly greenable roof, planting it all could retain 10 to 15 billion gallons
of annual rainfall — which would cut a substantial amount of sewage overflow.
“If you add in all the other green infrastructure, such as street trees,
permeable pavement and ground collection pits, it might be possible to
eliminate the combined sewage overflow without building specialized water
detention tanks, which are hugely expensive,” said Stuart Gaffin, a research
scientist at Columbia’s Center for Climate Systems Research and the lead author
of both studies.
The newest
roof variation is a blue roof.It’s a roof covered by a waterproof membrane and
gravel, with controlled-flow drains, and costs about $5 a square foot. Blue
roofs don’t cool anything — they help only with storm water control by
releasing water more gradually. Despite
the price, a blue roof is a hard sell — not everyone is comfortable with the
idea of a pond on the roof.
The fourth roof option doesn’t save energy — it creates it. New Jersey has installed 500 megawatts of solar power — enough to run half a million homes. California has installed double that. New York City? So far, just 6.5 megawatts.
How have New
Jersey and California done it? Private
vendors install and maintain the solar panels, and are paid in future energy
savings. Scott Stringer, the Manhattan borough president, argues that New York
should use this system to put solar panels on the roof of every public
school. Stringer’s report says putting
solar roofs on all available public schools would eliminate as much carbon
emissions as planting 400,000 trees — eight times the number in Manhattan now.
Join Fixes on Facebook and follow updates on twitter.com/nytimesfixes.
Tina
Rosenberg won a Pulitzer Prize for her book “The Haunted Land: Facing Europe’s
Ghosts After Communism.” She is a former editorial writer for The Times and now
a contributing writer for the paper’s Sunday magazine. Her new book is “Join
the Club: How Peer Pressure Can Transform the World.”
Source:
The New York Times - The Opinion Pages
It’s spring
— time to plant your roof. Roofs, like coffee, used to be black tar. Now both
have gone gourmet: for roofs, the
choices are white, green, blue and solar-panel black.
 |
Chester Higgins Jr./The New York Times
A co-op in Manhattan with a roof garden.
|
All are green in one sense. In different ways, each helps to solve
serious environmental problems. One
issue is air pollution, which needs no introduction.The second is the urban
heat island. Because cities have lots of dark surfaces that absorb heat and
relatively little green cover, they tend to be hotter than surrounding areas —
the average summer temperature in New York City is more than 7 degrees hotter
than in the Westchester suburbs. This
leads to heavy air-conditioning use — not good — and makes city dwellers
miserable. For a few people every year, the heat is more than a discomfort —
it’s fatal.
The other problem is storm water runoff. In New York, as in about a fifth of American cities, there is only one sewer system to conduct both rainwater and wastewater. About every other rainfall in New York, sewers flood and back up, discharging their mix of rainwater and wastewater into the city’s waterways. It doesn’t take much to overload New York’s sewers — it can take only 20 minutes of rainfall to start water from toilets flowing into Brooklyn’s waterways. The water does more than flood streets. It makes us sick — cases of diarrhea spike when sewers overflow. When sewers back up, polluted water runs into our lakes and oceans, closing beaches.
How can a
new roof help?
At 1:45 in
the afternoon on August 9, 2001, the temperature in Chicago was in the 90s.
Eleven stories up, on the roof of City Hall, the surface temperature of the
black tar measured 169 degrees. But Mayor Daley, environmental innovator — yes,
that Mayor Daley — had done something interesting. The year before, a section
of the City Hall roof had been painted white.
The surface temperature there was between 126 and 130 degrees. And much
of the roof of the building, and the adjacent Cook County building, had become
a garden — 20,000 plants in 150 varieties, chosen for their abilities to thrive
without irrigation and stand up to Chicago’s notorious wind. The surface
temperature of the green roof varied between 91 and 119 degrees.
So the
difference between a black tar roof and a green roof was at minimum 50 degrees.
And the green roof was able to retain 75 percent of a one-inch rainfall. The two tasks go hand in hand — green roofs
cool by capturing moisture and evaporating it.
 |
Matt Rourke/Associated Press
Painting a roof white in Philadelphia.
|
Greening a
roof is not simple or cheap. Over a black roof — flat is easiest but sloped can
work — goes insulation, then a waterproof membrane, then a barrier to keep
roots from poking holes in the membrane.
On top of that there is a drainage layer, such as gravel or clay, then a
mat to prevent erosion. Next is a lightweight soil (Chicago City Hall uses a
blend of mulch, compost and spongy stuff) and finally, plants.
Green roofs
have other advantages.They scrub the air: one square meter can absorb all the
emissions from a car being driven 12,000 miles a year, said Amy Norquist, chief
executive of Greensulate, which installs green roofs.And green roofs can
provide the plants that animals, birds and bees need where parks are far apart.
White roofs
are cheap and don’t require any engineering — just a layer of special paint.
New York City is trying to coat a million square feet of roof a year. Building
owners can do the work themselves, or they can engage CoolRoofs, a city
initiative that promotes white roofs and organizes hundreds of volunteer
painters. Since 2010, about 3,000 volunteers have coated 288 buildings.
But less
investment buys less return. White roofs don’t catch rainwater, help
biodiversity or clean the air. Gaffin’s group found that the white portion of
the Con Ed roof averaged 43 degrees cooler than black at noon on summer days.
That’s something, but it’s a smaller cooling effect than green roofs offer.
Green roofs improve each year as vegetation becomes denser and taller.But after
a few months, a white roof tends to look like city snow — covered with soot. As
a white roof dirties, it loses a lot of its cooling ability.
The fourth roof option doesn’t save energy — it creates it. New Jersey has installed 500 megawatts of solar power — enough to run half a million homes. California has installed double that. New York City? So far, just 6.5 megawatts.
Public
schools have become a testing ground for the new roofs. At the Robert Simon
complex in the East Village, which houses three schools (my children attend two
of those schools), work is beginning this summer on a farm. A committee at the
Earth School was looking for green ideas that would go beyond recycling and
create a curriculum. Abbe Futterman, the
science teacher, was already growing vegetables and fruit in sawed-off pickle
barrels right outside her classroom window, using the garden to teach plant
science and nutrition. The kids tend it, and use the produce to cook food from
around the world.
The Fifth
Street Farm will be a much larger vegetable and fruit garden in planters raised
about the roof on steel girders — not a classic green roof.The money has come
from various government offices — those of Stringer, State Senator Daniel
Squadron and City Council member Rosie Mendez.
Douglas Fountain, the architect who is implementing construction (and a
parent of a Tompkins Square Middle School student) said that it was designed to
be easily replicable by other schools.
Is a green
roof a good investment for a building owner? Perhaps, but the biggest reason
might not be reduced energy costs — lots of factors affect a building’s energy
use. More savings come from the fact
that temperature swings make a black tar roof expand and contract. The smaller
the spread, the longer the roof life.Roanoke, Va., for example, just installed
a green roof on its municipal building, at a cost of $123,000, adding anywhere
from 20 to 60 years to the life of the current roof membrane. “I personally
believe a green roof is the last roof you’ll have to put on,” said Gaffin.
But any
changes to a black tar roof are undoubtedly good investments for cities —
indeed, interest in green roofs is soaring largely because of the sewage
problem and the costs of trying to solve it the old way. New York City decided it was more cost
effective to build green infrastructure, including green roofs, than to
construct more sewer pipes or storage tanks, and it is spending $1.5 billion
over the next 20 years on green projects that will reduce rainfall runoff. The goal is to cut sewer outflows by 40
percent by 2030.
“The good
news is that this is a ‘no harm’ intervention,” said Carter Strickland, the
commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection. “People want it; there’s a lot of other
benefits. If at the end of the day it
doesn’t do the full job, whatever you have to build on top will be much smaller
and less expensive.”
To encourage
building owners to install green roofs, New York City has a pilot program that
will end next year offering a $4.50-per-square-foot tax abatement for green
roofs that cover more than half a rooftop.
(There are also tax abatements for solar-panel roofs.)
Amy Norquist
of Greensulate said this was less attractive than it sounded.“What you have to
do to get that is quite onerous,” she said. “You need permits, filing fees,
people have to sign off — it ends up being a lot of money.”
Strickland
said that permits were required for a good reason. “It requires you to do a structural analysis
of the roof,” he said. “You’re going to
need that permit whether you build it with a tax abatement or alone.”
New York
City was not one of the first American cities to promote green roofs. “But the
city is doing quite well,” said Gaffin.
“The green infrastructure plan is very ambitious.” The problem is that the little-by-little
approach won’t produce real environmental benefits until they reach a critical
mass, and that could take a long time.
“We get biodiversity benefits from small scale greening, and individual
building owners will get an energy benefit,” said Gaffin. “ But to make a
difference to the city’s climate or hydrology we’d have to get up to 30, 40 or
50 percent coverage. What we have now is a drop in the bucket.”
Join Fixes on Facebook and follow updates on twitter.com/nytimesfixes.
Tina
Rosenberg won a Pulitzer Prize for her book “The Haunted Land: Facing Europe’s
Ghosts After Communism.” She is a former editorial writer for The Times and now
a contributing writer for the paper’s Sunday magazine. Her new book is “Join
the Club: How Peer Pressure Can Transform the World.”Source:
The New York Times - The Opinion Pages
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Friday, May 18, 2012
The Pacific Ocean Is Dying
Cosmic Convergence
A Special Report On the Fukushima Nuclear Catastrophe
Just prior to the Supermoon of March 18th, 2011, the world witnessed a natural and manmade disaster of epic proportions. What transpired off the coast of Honshu Island, Japan on March 11 has forever altered the planet and irremediably affected the global environment. Whereas the earthquake and tsunami proved to be truly apocalyptic events for the people of Japan, the ongoing nuclear disaster at Fukushima is proving to be cataclysmic for the entire world.
Most of the world community is still unaware of the extremely profound and far-reaching effects that the Fukushima nuclear disaster has had. If the nations of the world really understood the implications of the actual ‘fallout’ – past, current and future – the current nuclear energy paradigm would be systematically shut down. For those of us who are in the know, it is incumbent upon each of us to disseminate the relevant information/data necessary to forever close down the nuclear power industry around the globe.
There is now general agreement that the state of the art of nuclear power generation is such that it was deeply flawed and fundamentally dangerous from the very beginning. This fact was completely understood to be the case by the industry insiders and original financiers of every nuclear power plant ever built. Nuclear engineers had a very good understanding of just how vulnerable the design, engineering and architecture was at the startup of this industry. Nevertheless, they proceeded with this ill-fated enterprise at the behest of who?
Therefore, this begs the question, “Why would such an inherently unsafe technology and unstable design be implemented worldwide in the first place?”
More importantly, “Who ought to be responsible for mitigating this ongoing planetary nuclear disaster?” And, is there any practical way this predicament can be fixed? Is there technology available which can address this situation in any meaningful way?
With the increasing energy needs of the global economy pushing energy-poor nations like Japan into nuclear power, the economic incentive has always overridden good judgment. Especially in Japan do we see a nation that was literally set up to be a poster child for the nuclear power industry. This, in a place that is known to be the most seismically active region in the world!
“Does anyone in their right mind believe that nuclear power plants can ever be designed, engineered or constructed to withstand 9.0 earthquakes followed by 15 meter high tsunamis? Sorry if we offend, but such a display of so deadly a combination of ignorance and arrogance must represent the very height of hubris. Particularly in view of the inevitable consequences which have manifested at Fukushima, how is it that so few saw this pre-ordained and disastrous outcome, except by willful blindness?”
— Japan: A Nation Consigned To Nuclear Armageddon
Numerous headlines over the past few weeks have been relentless in trumpeting Japan’s begrudging response to this global wakeup call. For the first time since nuclear power has been used in the land of Nippon, all 55 nuclear power plants now sit idle. This is of course very good news for the people of Japan. The question now remains how to go about remediating all of these vulnerable and unsafe nuclear reactors. Particularly because of those nuclear plants that are located anywhere along the Japanese coastline is this remediation imperative an existential necessity.
Japan nuclear power-free as last reactor shuts
Japan switches off last nuclear power plant; will it cope?
International Forces Are Responsible For Fukushima;
An Immediate Global Response Needs To Be Formulated
Since the very first news about the Fukushima nuclear disaster came to light, many industry researchers and various investigations have unveiled the multi-decade plot to foist nuclear power onto the islands of Japan. The many forces arrayed against the Japanese people were so formidable that this ill-fated enterprise could only come to such an unfortunate outcome. Just as humankind learned from the folly of dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Fukushima has served as an example of how not to implement nuclear power generation.
“Quite purposefully, no one ever stopped to consider the obvious and far-reaching ramifications of constructing 55 nuclear reactors on the most seismically active piece of property on planet Earth! And, that doesn’t count another 12 reactors in various stages of planning or development.”
— An Open Letter to the People of Japan
If Japan is to remain habitable for future generations, there are certain (nuclear) matters confronting every corner of this island nation which must be addressed post haste. We know the people of Japan are up to it. The real question is whether the powers who have controlled their destiny are willing to back off for once since WWII.
Can the USA, the UK, Israel and France completely let go of their control of the Japanese economy, energy infrastructure and political process? Not only does the very existence of Japan rely on this relinquishment of control, the futures of the USA, UK and France do as well.
“Tokyo has the largest greater metro population in the world at about 34.3 million. Tokyo has the largest GDP of all major cities in the world – larger than both New York City and London. Tokyo is the economic/financial capital of the world’s 3rd largest national economy, as well as the primary economic engine of East Asia.”
– As Fukushima Goes, So Goes Japan
Most are not aware, even at the very highest levels of the Global Control Matrix, but as Fukushima goes, so goes Japan. Taken to its logical conclusion we can say with absolute certainty that as Japan goes, so goes the entire planet. In reality, Japan is not only a super-charged trigger point in the Pacific Ring of Fire, it is also a lynchpin for the world economy as the previous article well explains. Therefore, we would highly advise the Anglo-American power structure to take proper responsibility for this unprecedented global catastrophe and show up in great force on the Honshu coastline to remediate and de-activate wherever still possible.
Global “Manhattan Project” Required
It is quite quizzical that those who run the Global Control Matrix have not yet seized the day. What is clearly at stake is the Pacific Ocean, its shorelines, numerous national economies, as well as myriad ecosystems and aquatic environments.
If they persist in this display of passivity and willful neglect, the planet may never recover. Surely, we can offer the observation that as the Pacific becomes exposed to massive volumes of radioactive water being dumped from the Fukushima site, eventually this radiation will find its way to the four corners of that ocean and beyond.
There has been a steady barrage of headlines lately aimed at those who can respond to this global catastrophe with some degree of cogency. A uniquely cohesive international response is urgently required if there is to be any hope of a successful remediation. Only a fully represented international think tank and implementation team has any chance of formulating a strategy that might be successful at fixing Fukushima.
We’re thinking of a Manhattan Project type of gravity. After all, if such a serious project was established in the interest of creating an atomic bomb, surely a similar endeavor can be initiated in the interest of saving the same country, that was ravaged by nuclear war, from Fukushima-generated radiation.
Japan has clearly shown that this disaster is way beyond their ability to manage and capacity to address in any meaningful way. Their entire culture seems to ensure that the real problems will be constantly swept under the rug. The problem this time around is that there may be no rug soon to sweep it under.
As Fukushima Goes, So Goes Japan
The preceding article clearly sets forth the thesis that if Tokyo requires evacuation in the future, the Japanese economy will immediately collapse. This eventuality would merely be the first domino to fall toward the collapse of the entire global economy. The prospect at this point is so real that those decision-makers at the top of the Global Control Matrix can’t afford not to inaugurate a worldwide effort to remediate Fukushima.
The Pacific Ocean Is Dying
How about the rest of the Pacific Ocean? What does the future hold in store for the largest body of water on Earth. One that circulates more water than any other ocean and possesses more coastline than all the others put together. The following headlines portend the future health of the Pacific, so all are encouraged to take serious notice.
Fukushima Daiichi Worker: Nothing can be done except to leak radioactive water! — Honestly feel that we are dumping massive amounts into ocean — Will spread all over world, reaching Hawaii and US soon
Nuclear Professor: 5,000 Hiroshima bombs worth of cesium-137 in spent fuel pool No. 4 — “Low estimate”
Doomsday scenarios spread about No. 4 reactor at Fukushima plant
Former Ambassador: No. 4 reactor a top national security issue for entire world — Could start “the ultimate catastrophe”
Japan Nuclear Expert: Humanity as a whole has literally never experienced something like Fukushima — “We will be fighting this radiation on the order of tens or hundreds of years”
The upshot of each of these articles is that the Pacific Ocean is extremely vulnerable to the radioactive waste being dumped into her waters at Fukushima. Should another catastrophic earthquake occur, it could create a new and more complicated nuclear disaster scenario that is truly irreparable. Even without any seismic activity affecting the nuclear sites, the current state of affairs has taken for granted that the Pacific Ocean will become a nuclear dumping ground for decades to come. It has not been lost on us that such an inevitability appears to be the only practical expedient available.
We are truly saddened by the great loss of marine life and harm to myriad aquatic and shoreline ecosystems. As the nuclear radiation is exported around the Asian Ring of Fire, genetic mutation will begin to affect every form of life — from phytoplankton to whales, from seabirds to mangroves, from dolphins to krill. Everything that lives near the Pacific will be at risk to some degree. Anyone who lives, works or plays in or around the Pacific will be compelled to evaluate their relationship to this great ocean.
What have we done to Mother Earth by siting nuclear power plants in the most seismically active region of the world?!
What in God’s Creation can possibly be done to fix it?
Never in the history of humankind has the planet been confronted with such a grave set of circumstances. Fukushima represents all that can go wrong when scientific applications and technological advancement within a crude industrial context have gone awry. Unfortunately, given the many trajectories that numerous fields of technological innovation are currently on, Fukushima and the BP Gulf oil spill of 2012 may only be the beginning of a period of accelerating technospheric breakdown which will sweep across the planet.
Author’s Note:
NuclearReader.info has provided an invaluable service to the worldwide internet community by giving away their ebook currently linked here: http://www.nuclearreader.info/
The first chapter entitled “Hazards of Low Level Radioactivity” ought to be a must read for anyone impacted by Fukushima.
Also of critical significance, there is a phenomenon known as the Photoelectric Effect which weighs heavily throughout the entire contamination zone associated with the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The following article gives an important overview for those who want to know what we are really dealing with as a planetary civilization.
Photoelectron Induction in Uranium Particles by Chris Busby, PhD
Addendum:
There has been no mention in this essay of the massive amount of debris pollution brought about by the Japan earthquake and tsunami of March, 2011. We have chosen a photo-documentary instead to portray the current state of affairs in various locations throughout the Pacific Ocean.
Special Notice:
The following article gives a much broader view of the current predicament which prevails across the planet. Clearly, technospheric breakdown is a phenomenon which few foresaw, otherwise we would not find ourselves at the edge of the precipice with respect to so many risky and dangerous technologies and misapplications of scientific developments.
example, so committed is the world community to the hydrocarbon fuel paradigm that there appears to be no way of lessening our dependence on such an environmentally destructive energy source. Likewise, even in the face of Fukushima, many nations are unwilling to reconsider their dependence on the nuclear power paradigm.
This essay elucidates the forces and motivations at work which militate against sound, rational and safe energy policy.
Technospheric Breakdown Accelerates Epochal Change On Planet Earth
©2012 Cosmic Convergence 2012®. All rights reserved
Source: Cosmic Convergence
A Special Report On the Fukushima Nuclear Catastrophe
Just prior to the Supermoon of March 18th, 2011, the world witnessed a natural and manmade disaster of epic proportions. What transpired off the coast of Honshu Island, Japan on March 11 has forever altered the planet and irremediably affected the global environment. Whereas the earthquake and tsunami proved to be truly apocalyptic events for the people of Japan, the ongoing nuclear disaster at Fukushima is proving to be cataclysmic for the entire world. Most of the world community is still unaware of the extremely profound and far-reaching effects that the Fukushima nuclear disaster has had. If the nations of the world really understood the implications of the actual ‘fallout’ – past, current and future – the current nuclear energy paradigm would be systematically shut down. For those of us who are in the know, it is incumbent upon each of us to disseminate the relevant information/data necessary to forever close down the nuclear power industry around the globe.
There is now general agreement that the state of the art of nuclear power generation is such that it was deeply flawed and fundamentally dangerous from the very beginning. This fact was completely understood to be the case by the industry insiders and original financiers of every nuclear power plant ever built. Nuclear engineers had a very good understanding of just how vulnerable the design, engineering and architecture was at the startup of this industry. Nevertheless, they proceeded with this ill-fated enterprise at the behest of who?
Therefore, this begs the question, “Why would such an inherently unsafe technology and unstable design be implemented worldwide in the first place?”
More importantly, “Who ought to be responsible for mitigating this ongoing planetary nuclear disaster?” And, is there any practical way this predicament can be fixed? Is there technology available which can address this situation in any meaningful way?
With the increasing energy needs of the global economy pushing energy-poor nations like Japan into nuclear power, the economic incentive has always overridden good judgment. Especially in Japan do we see a nation that was literally set up to be a poster child for the nuclear power industry. This, in a place that is known to be the most seismically active region in the world!
“Does anyone in their right mind believe that nuclear power plants can ever be designed, engineered or constructed to withstand 9.0 earthquakes followed by 15 meter high tsunamis? Sorry if we offend, but such a display of so deadly a combination of ignorance and arrogance must represent the very height of hubris. Particularly in view of the inevitable consequences which have manifested at Fukushima, how is it that so few saw this pre-ordained and disastrous outcome, except by willful blindness?”
— Japan: A Nation Consigned To Nuclear Armageddon
Numerous headlines over the past few weeks have been relentless in trumpeting Japan’s begrudging response to this global wakeup call. For the first time since nuclear power has been used in the land of Nippon, all 55 nuclear power plants now sit idle. This is of course very good news for the people of Japan. The question now remains how to go about remediating all of these vulnerable and unsafe nuclear reactors. Particularly because of those nuclear plants that are located anywhere along the Japanese coastline is this remediation imperative an existential necessity.
Japan nuclear power-free as last reactor shuts
Japan switches off last nuclear power plant; will it cope?
International Forces Are Responsible For Fukushima;
An Immediate Global Response Needs To Be Formulated
Since the very first news about the Fukushima nuclear disaster came to light, many industry researchers and various investigations have unveiled the multi-decade plot to foist nuclear power onto the islands of Japan. The many forces arrayed against the Japanese people were so formidable that this ill-fated enterprise could only come to such an unfortunate outcome. Just as humankind learned from the folly of dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Fukushima has served as an example of how not to implement nuclear power generation.
“Quite purposefully, no one ever stopped to consider the obvious and far-reaching ramifications of constructing 55 nuclear reactors on the most seismically active piece of property on planet Earth! And, that doesn’t count another 12 reactors in various stages of planning or development.”
— An Open Letter to the People of Japan
If Japan is to remain habitable for future generations, there are certain (nuclear) matters confronting every corner of this island nation which must be addressed post haste. We know the people of Japan are up to it. The real question is whether the powers who have controlled their destiny are willing to back off for once since WWII.
Can the USA, the UK, Israel and France completely let go of their control of the Japanese economy, energy infrastructure and political process? Not only does the very existence of Japan rely on this relinquishment of control, the futures of the USA, UK and France do as well.
“Tokyo has the largest greater metro population in the world at about 34.3 million. Tokyo has the largest GDP of all major cities in the world – larger than both New York City and London. Tokyo is the economic/financial capital of the world’s 3rd largest national economy, as well as the primary economic engine of East Asia.”
– As Fukushima Goes, So Goes Japan
Most are not aware, even at the very highest levels of the Global Control Matrix, but as Fukushima goes, so goes Japan. Taken to its logical conclusion we can say with absolute certainty that as Japan goes, so goes the entire planet. In reality, Japan is not only a super-charged trigger point in the Pacific Ring of Fire, it is also a lynchpin for the world economy as the previous article well explains. Therefore, we would highly advise the Anglo-American power structure to take proper responsibility for this unprecedented global catastrophe and show up in great force on the Honshu coastline to remediate and de-activate wherever still possible.
Global “Manhattan Project” Required
It is quite quizzical that those who run the Global Control Matrix have not yet seized the day. What is clearly at stake is the Pacific Ocean, its shorelines, numerous national economies, as well as myriad ecosystems and aquatic environments.
If they persist in this display of passivity and willful neglect, the planet may never recover. Surely, we can offer the observation that as the Pacific becomes exposed to massive volumes of radioactive water being dumped from the Fukushima site, eventually this radiation will find its way to the four corners of that ocean and beyond.
There has been a steady barrage of headlines lately aimed at those who can respond to this global catastrophe with some degree of cogency. A uniquely cohesive international response is urgently required if there is to be any hope of a successful remediation. Only a fully represented international think tank and implementation team has any chance of formulating a strategy that might be successful at fixing Fukushima.
We’re thinking of a Manhattan Project type of gravity. After all, if such a serious project was established in the interest of creating an atomic bomb, surely a similar endeavor can be initiated in the interest of saving the same country, that was ravaged by nuclear war, from Fukushima-generated radiation.
Japan has clearly shown that this disaster is way beyond their ability to manage and capacity to address in any meaningful way. Their entire culture seems to ensure that the real problems will be constantly swept under the rug. The problem this time around is that there may be no rug soon to sweep it under.
As Fukushima Goes, So Goes Japan
The preceding article clearly sets forth the thesis that if Tokyo requires evacuation in the future, the Japanese economy will immediately collapse. This eventuality would merely be the first domino to fall toward the collapse of the entire global economy. The prospect at this point is so real that those decision-makers at the top of the Global Control Matrix can’t afford not to inaugurate a worldwide effort to remediate Fukushima.
The Pacific Ocean Is Dying
How about the rest of the Pacific Ocean? What does the future hold in store for the largest body of water on Earth. One that circulates more water than any other ocean and possesses more coastline than all the others put together. The following headlines portend the future health of the Pacific, so all are encouraged to take serious notice.
Fukushima Daiichi Worker: Nothing can be done except to leak radioactive water! — Honestly feel that we are dumping massive amounts into ocean — Will spread all over world, reaching Hawaii and US soon
Nuclear Professor: 5,000 Hiroshima bombs worth of cesium-137 in spent fuel pool No. 4 — “Low estimate”
Doomsday scenarios spread about No. 4 reactor at Fukushima plant
Former Ambassador: No. 4 reactor a top national security issue for entire world — Could start “the ultimate catastrophe”
Japan Nuclear Expert: Humanity as a whole has literally never experienced something like Fukushima — “We will be fighting this radiation on the order of tens or hundreds of years”
The upshot of each of these articles is that the Pacific Ocean is extremely vulnerable to the radioactive waste being dumped into her waters at Fukushima. Should another catastrophic earthquake occur, it could create a new and more complicated nuclear disaster scenario that is truly irreparable. Even without any seismic activity affecting the nuclear sites, the current state of affairs has taken for granted that the Pacific Ocean will become a nuclear dumping ground for decades to come. It has not been lost on us that such an inevitability appears to be the only practical expedient available.
We are truly saddened by the great loss of marine life and harm to myriad aquatic and shoreline ecosystems. As the nuclear radiation is exported around the Asian Ring of Fire, genetic mutation will begin to affect every form of life — from phytoplankton to whales, from seabirds to mangroves, from dolphins to krill. Everything that lives near the Pacific will be at risk to some degree. Anyone who lives, works or plays in or around the Pacific will be compelled to evaluate their relationship to this great ocean.
What have we done to Mother Earth by siting nuclear power plants in the most seismically active region of the world?!
What in God’s Creation can possibly be done to fix it?
Never in the history of humankind has the planet been confronted with such a grave set of circumstances. Fukushima represents all that can go wrong when scientific applications and technological advancement within a crude industrial context have gone awry. Unfortunately, given the many trajectories that numerous fields of technological innovation are currently on, Fukushima and the BP Gulf oil spill of 2012 may only be the beginning of a period of accelerating technospheric breakdown which will sweep across the planet.
Author’s Note:
NuclearReader.info has provided an invaluable service to the worldwide internet community by giving away their ebook currently linked here: http://www.nuclearreader.info/
The first chapter entitled “Hazards of Low Level Radioactivity” ought to be a must read for anyone impacted by Fukushima.
Also of critical significance, there is a phenomenon known as the Photoelectric Effect which weighs heavily throughout the entire contamination zone associated with the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The following article gives an important overview for those who want to know what we are really dealing with as a planetary civilization.
Photoelectron Induction in Uranium Particles by Chris Busby, PhD
Addendum:
There has been no mention in this essay of the massive amount of debris pollution brought about by the Japan earthquake and tsunami of March, 2011. We have chosen a photo-documentary instead to portray the current state of affairs in various locations throughout the Pacific Ocean.
Here is the current flow and future map of debris pollution.
This debris is found in the "The Great Pacific Garbage Patch"
Special Notice:
The following article gives a much broader view of the current predicament which prevails across the planet. Clearly, technospheric breakdown is a phenomenon which few foresaw, otherwise we would not find ourselves at the edge of the precipice with respect to so many risky and dangerous technologies and misapplications of scientific developments.
example, so committed is the world community to the hydrocarbon fuel paradigm that there appears to be no way of lessening our dependence on such an environmentally destructive energy source. Likewise, even in the face of Fukushima, many nations are unwilling to reconsider their dependence on the nuclear power paradigm.
This essay elucidates the forces and motivations at work which militate against sound, rational and safe energy policy.
Technospheric Breakdown Accelerates Epochal Change On Planet Earth
©2012 Cosmic Convergence 2012®. All rights reserved
Source: Cosmic Convergence
Bigar Cascade Falls
 |
| Photograph by SANDRA RUGINA (behindmyblueeyes@etsy.com) |
DRAMATIC MOSS
COVERED WATERFALL IN ROMANIA Photograph by SANDRA RUGINA (behindmyblueeyes@etsy.com)
According to Sandra and comments on Reddit, this is the Bigar Cascade Falls in
Carass Severin, Romania at the 45th parallel (45° 0′ 15.28″ N 21° 57′ 36.41″
E). The dramatic moss-covered falls are situated in the forests of the Anina
Mountains and is formed by an underground water spring that spills into the
Minis River.
The stunning
image above by Sandra Rugina is available as a print on Etsy for $29.00 USD.
The print is a 20cm x 30cm (about 8in x 10-12in) high quality photo print with photographic
inks on high quality photo paper. A small signature will be added the back of
the photo with black writing.
Food Security Means Water Too
This piece is part of a series of blogs by leading NGOs to call attention to a range of issues that should be raised at the G8 summit at Camp David in rural Maryland from May 18-19.
By Bill Corcoran
As G-8 leaders hold their lengthy discussions about the challenges facing the world, they can reach out to the glass in front of them for a refreshing sip of water. What a luxury! In most places in the world, a sip of water could cause diarrhea or other water-born illness. A bottle of clean water could cost the equivalent of a day's wage.
Reading the latest research about water scarcity in the Middle East, where ANERA works, I was dismayed by statistics that reveal a harsh reality facing one of the world's most arid regions. Experts predict the available water supply in 2050 will be half what it is today for a population that is growing by an average 3 percent a year. And yet, more than 70 percent of scarce water resources are used for agriculture.
The challenge of providing clean water is exacerbated by natural and man-made conditions on and under the ground: desertification, encroaching sea water, natural evaporation, wasteful management, pollution from agriculture run-off -- to name a few. Nonprofit development and humanitarian organizations can do a lot but it takes political will on the part of governments around the globe to find and implement solutions.
The UN children's agency UNICEF estimates that 95 percent of Gaza's groundwater, for example, is unfit to drink. The unclean water poses enormous health risks and increases the financial burden for poor families who have to purchase their water trucked into their communities.
When talking about their commitment to food security, G-8 leaders must not ignore the importance of water to sustaining agricultural development and nourishing the world's ever-growing population with clean water. Water shortages, security experts warn, could destabilize governments no longer able to produce enough food, provide clean drinking water or generate energy.
Water knows no boundaries but competition between neighbors over access and distribution of the precious resource raises tensions and the threat of conflict. Relations often have been strained between Turkey, Iraq and Syria over sharing waters of the Euphrates River. Jordan, Israel and the Palestinians compete over what flows from dwindling Jordan and Yarmuk rivers.
Instead of competing for water, states need to cooperate on ways to develop more efficient agricultural methods that reduce dependence on the scarce resource. With leadership and support of the G-8 governments, public and private sectors can work together to find new ways to provide clean drinking water and reduce water-born diseases that claim millions of lives every day.
We need better water conservation and education programs to promote more efficient farming techniques and water management that can help communities cope. Farmers need encouragement and incentives to replace water-thirsty crops like bananas, oranges and strawberries and to implement water-conservation programs. That is for today. We also need to intensify research and expand development programs to secure longer-term solutions that can help less developed nations face the challenge of water scarcity.
The G-8 pledged three years ago to lead the global effort in agriculture and food security. Only seven of some 40-plus nations who signed the L'Aquila Initiative have followed through on their pledges to create sustainable development programs.
Now is not the time to give up. The water-glass is half empty.
ANERA (American Near East Refugee Aid) has been a leading provider of development, health, education and employment programs to Palestinian communities and impoverished families throughout the Middle East for more than 40 years.
Follow Bill_Corcoran on Twitter: www.twitter.com/aneraorg
Visit ANERA's website: http://www.anera.org/
By Bill CorcoranAs G-8 leaders hold their lengthy discussions about the challenges facing the world, they can reach out to the glass in front of them for a refreshing sip of water. What a luxury! In most places in the world, a sip of water could cause diarrhea or other water-born illness. A bottle of clean water could cost the equivalent of a day's wage.
Reading the latest research about water scarcity in the Middle East, where ANERA works, I was dismayed by statistics that reveal a harsh reality facing one of the world's most arid regions. Experts predict the available water supply in 2050 will be half what it is today for a population that is growing by an average 3 percent a year. And yet, more than 70 percent of scarce water resources are used for agriculture.
The challenge of providing clean water is exacerbated by natural and man-made conditions on and under the ground: desertification, encroaching sea water, natural evaporation, wasteful management, pollution from agriculture run-off -- to name a few. Nonprofit development and humanitarian organizations can do a lot but it takes political will on the part of governments around the globe to find and implement solutions.
The UN children's agency UNICEF estimates that 95 percent of Gaza's groundwater, for example, is unfit to drink. The unclean water poses enormous health risks and increases the financial burden for poor families who have to purchase their water trucked into their communities.
When talking about their commitment to food security, G-8 leaders must not ignore the importance of water to sustaining agricultural development and nourishing the world's ever-growing population with clean water. Water shortages, security experts warn, could destabilize governments no longer able to produce enough food, provide clean drinking water or generate energy.
Water knows no boundaries but competition between neighbors over access and distribution of the precious resource raises tensions and the threat of conflict. Relations often have been strained between Turkey, Iraq and Syria over sharing waters of the Euphrates River. Jordan, Israel and the Palestinians compete over what flows from dwindling Jordan and Yarmuk rivers.
Instead of competing for water, states need to cooperate on ways to develop more efficient agricultural methods that reduce dependence on the scarce resource. With leadership and support of the G-8 governments, public and private sectors can work together to find new ways to provide clean drinking water and reduce water-born diseases that claim millions of lives every day.
We need better water conservation and education programs to promote more efficient farming techniques and water management that can help communities cope. Farmers need encouragement and incentives to replace water-thirsty crops like bananas, oranges and strawberries and to implement water-conservation programs. That is for today. We also need to intensify research and expand development programs to secure longer-term solutions that can help less developed nations face the challenge of water scarcity.
The G-8 pledged three years ago to lead the global effort in agriculture and food security. Only seven of some 40-plus nations who signed the L'Aquila Initiative have followed through on their pledges to create sustainable development programs.
Now is not the time to give up. The water-glass is half empty.
ANERA (American Near East Refugee Aid) has been a leading provider of development, health, education and employment programs to Palestinian communities and impoverished families throughout the Middle East for more than 40 years.
Follow Bill_Corcoran on Twitter: www.twitter.com/aneraorg
Visit ANERA's website: http://www.anera.org/
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Rainforest Alliance Contest: "So Practical, It’s Radical"
The Rainforest Alliance is challenging you to submit a video, animated or live, that documents in two minutes, or less, what you are doing on your campus that is "So Practical, It’s Radical". How are you making your campus more sustainable? Have you started a recycling program, created a school garden, or taught a class about campus sourcing? Enter our contest and tell us all about it! What You Can Do
Did you know that US colleges and universities have a combined annual purchasing power of nearly $5 billion? The majority of these dollars are currently supporting irresponsible forestry (through the purchasing of building materials, furniture and paper) and industrial farming (through the sourcing of cafeteria food and beverages).
Imagine the positive impact this money could have if it were directed toward farms and forests where workers lived in decent housing with access to medical care and education for their families; where soils, waterways and wildlife are protected, and where sustainability is the norm.
You can do more than imagine. YOU have the power to support sustainability on your campus.
Prize Details
· One grand prize winner will receive a Renovo bicycle made only from lumber grown, harvested and milled in the Appalachian region of the US, and two general admission 3-day passes to the Forecastle Music Festival (July 13-15, 2012).
· One runner-up will receive a Grow Anthology Special Edition Skateboard made from Forest Stewardship Council certified paper. A 2nd runner-up will receive a Patagonia Refugio Pack28L, other Patagonia goodies and a Rainforest Alliance gift bag.
Deadline
The contest starts on Friday, April 6 at 10:00 AM (EDT). Deadline for submissions has been extended to October 28 at 11:59 PM (EDT).
We understand that we can’t preserve resources in a vacuum. We can’t stop people from using wood or growing crops, and we can’t prevent them from living in ecologically fragile areas. So rather than preservation, our approach is conservation through better land management. We work around the world to make farming, forestry and travel more environmentally and socially responsible.
How do we do it? By helping communities that derive their living from the land adopt our scientifically established methods of responsible land management. These methods lead to the sustainability -- or long-term health -- of the environment and the protection of wildlife, while ensuring that workers, their families and neighbors are treated decently.
Visit the Rainforest Alliance website: College Video Contest
Friday, May 11, 2012
Citizen Involvement in Source Water Protection
From the United States Environmental Protection Agency:
Drinking water sources are vulnerable to contamination that can cause a community significant expense and threaten public health. Water is a shared resource, and individuals, citizen groups, and local communities can participate in many activities to help protect their drinking water sources. This page provides information on how to learn about source water protection in your area, things you can do to protect your drinking water and steps you can take in source water planning at the community level. The links to fact sheets, guides and other resources below can help citizens take an active role in source water protection.
A source water assessment shows where drinking water comes from and identifies potential sources of contamination that could pose a threat to drinking water quality. The assessments are available to the public, and you can usually obtain a copy from your state or public water system.
Protecting sources of drinking water can also help various federal programs, states and communities meet other environmental and social goals, such as green space conservation, stormwater planning, management of nonpoint source pollution (such as runoff from agricultural lands) and brownfields redevelopment. For example, if your community is considering a stormwater ordinance, are the locations of the town's drinking water wells being considered? Can community open space needs be met by acquiring land just upstream of the drinking water intake?
Source: EPA - Citizen Involvement
Do Your Part to Protect Drinking Water
Source water is a shared resource, and you can play a part in protecting it. If you have only a limited amount of time to give, check out EPA's fact sheets on:- How can I help protect drinking water?
- Quick things you can do
- More things you can do - Sites with information that you can use at home or at work to protect the environment and yourself.
Get a Copy of the Source Water Assessment for Your Public Water System
The 1996 amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act require that states ensure that a source water assessment is completed for every public water system. A source water assessment is a study and report, unique to each water system, that provides basic information about the water used as drinking water.A source water assessment shows where drinking water comes from and identifies potential sources of contamination that could pose a threat to drinking water quality. The assessments are available to the public, and you can usually obtain a copy from your state or public water system.
Manage Your Property to Protect Drinking Water
Many individual homeowners are responsible for their own private wells, septic systems, lawns and gardens. Good stewardship can help public health and the environment.- Private drinking water wells - what you can do
- EPA Practices Bulletin: Managing Septic Systems to Prevent Contamination of Drinking Water Sources (PDF) (5 pp, 133 K)
- Homes, lawns and gardens - do's and don'ts around the home
- U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA): Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS),
Backyard Conservation, Bringing Conservation from the Countryside to your Backyard - Contains 10 conservation practices that have been scaled down into tip sheets offering how-to steps and helpful hints for homeowners and city residents to use in their yards.
Participate in Source Water Planning at the Community Level
You can work within your community, watershed or neighborhood to protect your drinking water. Water is a shared resource, and many partners are involved in implementing ground water protection through wellhead protection and surface water protection programs that use watershed management strategies. Both programs involve assessing the problems in the protection area, prioritizing management measures to address those problems and then implementing the management measures.Use your assessment to identify and prioritize needed actions
The first step, assessing the problems in the protection area, has been completed for all public water systems. The assessment includes a delineation, a contaminant inventory and a susceptibility determination. If your assessment needs more local or detailed information, you can elaborate on an existing assessment report before you begin your management activities.Work with your water utility
Water utilities are gatekeepers of public information, safety monitoring and emergency response. They have a critical role to play in promoting source water protection, including- Advocating source water protection
- Providing annual drinking water quality reports (consumer confidence reports)
- Creating opportunities for public participation, such as water board meetings and public forums
- Educating consumers
- Providing important information to non-English speaking residents
- Identifying potential sources of contamination
- Identifying and organizing other stakeholders
- Working directly with owners/managers of potential sources of poluution
Focus federal, state and local partners on protecting drinking water sources
Many programs and organizations have some responsibility for water quality and land use planning. These can range from a town's conservation commission or local county extension agent to state agencies, nonprofit organizations, and federal agencies like the Forest Service. Some programs work specifically with small communities and water systems. A good question to ask when putting together a protection team is,"What other activities are going on in my watershed or wellhead protection area?"Protecting sources of drinking water can also help various federal programs, states and communities meet other environmental and social goals, such as green space conservation, stormwater planning, management of nonpoint source pollution (such as runoff from agricultural lands) and brownfields redevelopment. For example, if your community is considering a stormwater ordinance, are the locations of the town's drinking water wells being considered? Can community open space needs be met by acquiring land just upstream of the drinking water intake?
- See the partnership section of the programs page for more information.
Prevent, reduce or eliminate contamination threats in your water supply protection area
Communities can use a array of different source water protection methods to prevent contamination of their drinking water supplies.- Some management options involve regulations and ordinances, such as prohibiting or restricting land uses that might release contaminants in critical source water areas.
- Education and outreach can also be effective. Many communities hold local events or distribute information to encourage citizens and businesses to protect drinking water sources by recycling used oil, limiting their use of pesticides or participating in watershed cleanup activities.
- Many of the available management measures are known as best management practices (BMPs). BMPs are standard operating procedures that can reduce the threats that activities at homes, businesses, farms, and industrial facilities can pose to water supplies.
- Purchasing land or creating of conservation easements can form a protection zone near the drinking water source.
Check Out Additional Resources for Citizen Involvement
- Consider the Source: A Pocket Guide to Protecting Your Drinking Water (Drinking Water Pocket Guide #3) (PDF) (52 pp, 1MB)
- Citizen's Guide to Ground Water Protection - Guide that encourages citizens to a take an active and positive role in protecting their community's ground water supplies. Introduces the natural cycle that supplies the earth with ground water, briefly explains how ground water can become contaminated, examines ways to protect ground water supplies and describes the roles communities can play in protecting ground water supplies.
Spanish version available (EPA 440-6-90-004).- English Version (PDF) (34 pp, 2MB)
- Spanish Version (PDF) (15 pp, 63 K)
- Adopt Your Watershed - available resources for citizens interested in stream restoration/nonpoint source pollution
- Local protection
- Source water protection case studies
- Publications and resources
- Informational web sites and tools
Source: EPA - Citizen Involvement
Thursday, May 10, 2012
The Latest On Plastic Pollution
Here's a great find for everyone following the devastation of plastic poisoning our planet. 5Gyres is keeping track of research and posting findings:
RESEARCH IS UNDERWAY!! Boldly Trawling Where Few Have Trawled Before
By Stiv Wilson on May 09, 2012
Source: http://5gyres.org/posts/2012/05/09/research_is_underway_boldly_trawling_where_few_have_trawled_before
RESEARCH IS UNDERWAY!! Boldly Trawling Where Few Have Trawled Before
By Stiv Wilson on May 09, 2012
Editor's Note: The following report
comes from 5 Gyres Ambassador, Carolyn Box, who we refer to affectionately as
CBOX or SEABOX, due to her love for the open ocean and the 5 Gyres mission. So,
what is a trawl? Well, it's simple. Our Executive Director, Marcus Eriksen, has
invented a trawl device for gathering samples at high speed, i.e. the speed of
the boat, which we call 'The Flying Dutchman' as it was invented on a Dutch
tall ship with a welding studio somewhere in the middle of the Indian Ocean.
Though we don't use The Flying Dutchman to quantify density of plastic, it
allows us to constantly gather samples without slowing down the boat, and
provide samples for education and to share with all our ocean conservation
partners and allows the public to see firsthand what oceanic plastic pollution
looks like.
The Manta Trawl is what we use for
scientific work with a strict protocol and has been used for years as the
standard device for data gathering (we didn't invent this). The Manta Trawl
skims the surface of the water with an opening 25x60 centimeters and sines
water through a standard plankton net. The mesh of this net is so fine, only
water escapes. In addition to the net, the Manta Trawl is equipped with a
flowmeter which records how much water passes through the trawl. We trawl at 50
nautical mile intervals, gathering a transect across an entire ocean. The Manta
Trawl is out for EXACTLY one hour, at a speed of about two knots (we slow the
boat down). What collects in the trawl is what you see above, plastic. This
picture is a view into the net itself and is an actual sample. Doesn't look
like much, right? Well, when you consider that the opening of the trawl is very
small, and we're only dragging it for about two nautical miles at each
instance, that changes everything. Once we count the plastic pieces and
extrapolate from the flowmeter how much water has passed through, along with
applying the time and distance it traveled, we can then figure out how dense
the surface layer of ocean is per square kilometer with regard to plastic particles.
That number, mathematically derived, is pretty staggering when you're talking
about human caused pollution in the absolute middle of nowhere. Typically, when
you get towards the center of the gyre, that number goes up.)
Cbox's report from Sea:
We launched the hi-speed trawl
yesterday and dragged it until this morning, approximately
100 nautical miles through the Pacific. Research has begun. As Marcus unveiled
the sample, the crew surrounded him with curiosity. The sample included several
small fragments of colorful plastic (at least twenty pieces) and a single
nurdle, a pre-production pellet used to make all plastic items. We have not
officially entered the Western North Pacific accumulation zone yet, which
explains the minimal amount of plastic found. We are heading west northwest at
the moment (Course is 305 Degrees) for the next 580 miles and then we will head
north and head into the accumulation zone for approximately 610 miles until we
head west to Tokyo (approximately 800 miles). Little plastic pollution research
exists in this area of the ocean – the last samples collected were done in the
mid 1980s.
We are about to
launch the first manta trawl at 4PM today. This will be the beginning of our
official research. The plan is to put the manta out every 50 nautical miles, as
long as weather continues to be appropriate. In total, we will probably
collected 25 to 35 manta trawl samples, along with a similar amount of hi-speed
trawl samples. In addition to the research beginning today, Shanley and I are
leading sit-up sessions during the 60 minutes that the trawl is out. Sea Dragon
is slowed down to less than 3 nautical miles during this time – perfect time to
get a little exercise in.
Source: http://5gyres.org/posts/2012/05/09/research_is_underway_boldly_trawling_where_few_have_trawled_before
Water War: The Colorado River
Six states get their water from the Colorado River and its tributaries: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah.
The hot and dry city of Las Vegas draws 90 percent of its water from the Colorado River via Lake Mead. It is expected that within a year's time water levels will drop 17 feet, so it's no wonder officials in the Southwest are getting worried about access to clean water. Unfortunately, not enough people are paying attention to the impending water crisis, which some activists are labeling water wars.
If water levels drop to the point of causing a water shortage, what course of action might these six states take? Certainly they will be asking, Who owns the water? and wondering if the people living upstream have the right to block the flow of water to people living downstream.
I'm hoping that the new documentary - Last Call At The Oasis - directed by filmmaker Jessica Yu, will bring more attention to the looming crisis.
Yu spoke to Southern Nevada Water Authority General Manager Pat Mulroy for the film about the controversy over her agency's plan to siphon groundwater from the Colorado River across the eastern part of the state. Similar water pipeline projects are being debated across the U.S. and the world.
In one of her scenes, Mulroy says it is now a question of when - not if - Lake Mead will shrink low enough to silence the generators at Hoover Dam and shut down one of the water intake areas that serves Las Vegas. She predicts that when that day comes, "it's going to be about Western survival."
Are water wars coming to your area?
Check your local theaters for Last Call At The Oasis.
Other great documentaries:
Watershed - produced by Robert Redford and his son, James: http://jamesredford.com/all-films/producing-current-films/watershed/
Tapped - http://www.tappedthemovie.com/
Running Dry - http://www.runningdry.org/world.html
Blue Gold - http://www.bluegold-worldwaterwars.com/
Flow - http://www.flowthefilm.com/
Poisoned Water - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/poisonedwaters/
Source: Desert USA
Source: Las Vegas Review Journal
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
A Watered-Down Education
Food & Water Watch
By Wenonah Hauter
Joe Camel. Ronald McDonald. Tony the Tiger. Spuds McKenzie. Kid-friendly advertising tricks by corporations seeking to lure young consumers clutter the annals of marketing history.
While some of these efforts are more insidious than others, they share a common trait. In each case, advertisers were trying to hook new consumers early to cultivate a sense of brand loyalty to be exploited for years to come. With the advent of programs ostensibly designed to teach kids about water issues, bottled water companies are getting in on the action. Their tactics flow through an institution that few kids can escape—the classroom.
The best example of this is Project WET. This nonprofit organization claims to educate children and parents about the importance of preserving global water resources. According to its website, “sustainable water management is crucial to secure social and economic stability, as well as a healthy environment.”
That’s certainly true. But Nestlé Waters North America, the organization’s main sponsor, is the last entity that should be empowered to educate the public about responsible water use. When you consider the bottled water behemoth’s track record of hogging global water supplies and profiting from them, Project WET’s supposed mission is a slap in the face to any community that has had its water muscled away by Nestlé.
By its own admission, Nestlé expends 2.37 gallons of water for every gallon of bottled water it produces. The company used approximately 4 billion gallons of water in 2007. That same year, it reduced the amount of water it used by 1.3 percent, but that was more than cancelled out as it increased the volume of bottled water it produced by 10 percent. Meanwhile, Nestlé buys community water for as little as $ .000081 per gallon, and sells it back to consumers for at least 127,000 times as much.
Pumping all that water comes at a steep price to consumers and the planet. U.S. bottled water consumption used energy equivalent to 32 to 54 million barrels of oil in 2007, enough to fuel approximately 1.5 million cars over the course of a year. Moreover, 77 percent of all empty plastic water bottles consumed in the U.S. end up in landfills.
And yet, Nestlé has the audacity to anoint itself a leader in water education.
With more than 1.1 billion people in the world lacking access to clean water and sanitation, it’s more important than ever that children learn the connection between the choices they make as consumers and their greater impact on the world. But Nestlé’s brand of water education only greenwashes the company’s own hand in profiting from an increasingly scarce resource to which all humans have a right, while cultivating a new generation of consumers.
Luckily, the Nestlé-funded Project WET isn’t the only water education program in town. We at Food & Water Watch have developed an innovative initiative to teach students that the simple choice of choosing a water fountain over a bottle of water can make a real difference in preserving our shared water resources. The Take Back the Tap Curriculum uses English, science, math and social studies to help students draw the connection between the stuff that comes out of their taps at home and that which their peers across the globe sometimes have to walk miles to procure.
As Americans, it’s easy to take drinking water for granted, but this basic resource is central to a complex web of political and environmental issues. We should teach our kids the importance of protecting it. We can’t abdicate that responsibility to corporations with a vested interest in building demand for bottled water.
Source: http://ecowatch.org/2012/a-watered-down-education/
Water Science Photo Gallery
All of Earth's Water in a Single Sphere
This picture shows the size of a sphere that would contain all of Earth's water in comparison to the size of the Earth. The blue sphere sitting on the United States, reaching from about Salt Lake City, Utah to Topeka, Kansas, has a diameter of about 860 miles (about 1,385 kilometers) , with a volume of about 332,500,000 cubic miles (1,386,000,000 cubic kilometers). The sphere includes all the water in the oceans, seas, ice caps, lakes and rivers as well as groundwater, atmospheric water, and even the water in you, your dog, and your tomato plant.
Credit: Illustration by Jack Cook, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; USGS.
Data source: Igor Shiklomanov's chapter "World fresh water resources" in Peter H. Gleick (editor), 1993, Water in Crisis: A Guide to the World's Fresh Water Resources (Oxford University Press, New York).
Source: http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/2010/gallery/global-water-volume.html
U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/2010/gallery/global-water-volume.html
Page Contact Information: Howard Perlman
Page Last Modified: Tuesday, 08-Feb-2011 07:32:06 EST
This picture shows the size of a sphere that would contain all of Earth's water in comparison to the size of the Earth. The blue sphere sitting on the United States, reaching from about Salt Lake City, Utah to Topeka, Kansas, has a diameter of about 860 miles (about 1,385 kilometers) , with a volume of about 332,500,000 cubic miles (1,386,000,000 cubic kilometers). The sphere includes all the water in the oceans, seas, ice caps, lakes and rivers as well as groundwater, atmospheric water, and even the water in you, your dog, and your tomato plant.
Data source: Igor Shiklomanov's chapter "World fresh water resources" in Peter H. Gleick (editor), 1993, Water in Crisis: A Guide to the World's Fresh Water Resources (Oxford University Press, New York).
Source: http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/2010/gallery/global-water-volume.html
U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/2010/gallery/global-water-volume.html
Page Contact Information: Howard Perlman
Page Last Modified: Tuesday, 08-Feb-2011 07:32:06 EST
Monday, May 7, 2012
Water Facts
3.575 million people die each year from water-related diseases.
884 million people lack access to clean water – that’s almost 3 x the population of the United States.
780 million people lack access to an improved water source; approximately one in nine people.
3.41 million people die each year from water, sanitation and hygiene-related causes each year.
The water and sanitation crisis claims more lives through disease than any war claims through guns.
People living informal settlements (i.e. slums) often pay 5-10 times more per liter of water than wealthy people living in the same city.
An American taking a five-minute shower uses more water than the average person in a developing country slum uses for an entire day.
References
- United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). (2006). Human Development Report 2006, Beyond Scarcity: Power, poverty and the global water crisis.
- United Nations World Water Development Report. (2009). Water in a Changing World.
- Estimated with data from: Numbers 4 and 12.
- WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply and Sanitation. (2010). Progress on Sanitation and Drinking-Water, 2010 Update.
- WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply and Sanitation. (2012). Progress on Sanitation and Drinking-Water, 2012 Update.
- Water and Sanitation Program (WSP). (2000). Linking Sustainability with Demand, Gender and Poverty: A study in community-managed water supply projects in 15 countries.
- UN Water. (2008). Tackling a Global Crisis: International Year of Sanitation 2008
- World Health Organization. (2008). Safer Water, Better Health: Costs, benefits, and sustainability of interventions to protect and promote health.
- World Health Organization (WHO). (2002). The World Health Report 2002, Reducing Risks, Promoting Healthy Life.
- Estimated with data from The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)/World Health Organization (WHO). (2009). Diarrhoea: Why children are still dying and what can be done.
- World Health Organization. (2004). "Evaluation of the costs and Benefits of Water and Sanitation Improvements at the Global Level"
- Water and Sanitation Program (WSP). (2010). Financing On-Site Sanitation for the Poor, A Six County Comparative Review and Analysis.
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