The story continues......

                                                       

 It was two or three weeks ago, I can't remember clearly. A friend of mine told me that this winter the weather in her country was being extremely rough. Everything was snowed and the wind blew with an evil force, blowing down trees and pots that she had in her garden. One of them was overed in buds waiting for the sun to appear, but instead of that gale force wind put an end to its life. That pot was like a member of the family and when it crashed into the floor its branches were broken and when it happened, a part of my friend's heart was broken too.  

She seemed affected and told me that she was looking forward to her next holidays, 'I can't stand this cold weather' she told me. We both coincide the weather is changing. In my city this winter is been extremely rough too and, in our opinion, it's a fact that the global warming effects are growing up, making the weather forecast almost unpredictable. 

I asked her where she was going to go and she told me three fantastic words, the Canary Islands and then happened what usually happens when someone mentions you about something or somebody, you start hearing of this on TV, in papers and so on, but last Sunday I was placidly watching TV when a documentary started and, do you guess what  the documentary was about?, yes you are right, the Canary Islands.

The documentary was about the volcanic origin of the islands, but there is one of them which is particularly dangerous because  it is very prone to these kind of phenomenons, La Palma island.

After showing the spectators breathtaking views, beaches and laurisilva forest, the narrator started talking about the hidden danger that it is inside the island. According to an American research, scientists believe that there is quite a lot water running inside the slept volcanoes. They are in the opinion that if these volcanoes were awaken, the water steam generated by the heat, would raise the temperature inside the mountains and, apart from the tremendous eruption, would provoke a chain of unpredictable magnitude explosions.

These chain of explosions would make the left side of the Island fall inside the sea, what would unleash a fifty meters tsunami after 6 or seven hours the explosions and landslide happened. The tsunami would hit the Us East Coast, Brazil and the Caribbean Islands.This terrible disaster might affect 100 million people.

                               

Well, I'm sure that Cumbre Vieja volcano is not going to be awaken. It's not time for it to set off the alarm clock. My friend has to enjoy her journey before it!. The Canary Islands are one of the best landscapes Spain has and I'd like to think that the predictions of this research are never going to happen, because the unthinkable is already happening in Spain and a six million  unemployed people tsunami is hitting us with unpredictable consequences in the near future.

Vicent


P.S. Have a great time !

 http://www.tendencias21.net/Catastroficos-tsunamis-podrian-derivarse-del-derrumbe-de-un-volcan-de-La-Palma_a397.html

Two years from Japanese disaster

On Friday, March 11, two years ago an 8.9 Richter scale earthquake hit the Japan’s eastern coast. This is one of the top five earthquakes ever recorded. The quake nearly killed 15000 people and there were 5000 people missing.

The magnitude of the quake unleashed a 7meter tsunami and was followed by more than fifty aftershocks for hours. According to the experts’ opinion, after an earthquake of this magnitude, the aftershocks take quite a while to die down.

Hours later the tsunami struck Hawai and warnings blanketed the Pacific, putting many areas on alert as far away as South America, Canada, Alaska and the entire US West Coast.

Apart from the people who died, there were, in my opinion, two main consequences:

1.- Nuclear Power plant explosion

The Fukushima plant was shut down during the quake, but after that, the backup generators needed to power cooling systems, but instead of that experienced critical failures. As a result of those failures the pressure build-up and exploded. The officials warned that small amounts of radioactive material were likely to leak from the plants. Finally, the scientist sorted out the problem, but the whole world asked itself about the consequences and if it was worth using nuclear power, especially in prone quake lands.

2.- Earth Axis shifted due to quake

Recent studies have showed us that the earthquake moved the main island of Japan about 2.4 meters and shifted the Earth rotation axis by about 25 centimeters. Isn’t it amazing?

Learning from Japan’s disaster

I have no doubt that everybody in the world should learn from Japan’s reaction to this disaster. For example, within a month, Senday airport, flooded by the tsunami, reopened. In some areas people went to work only two days after the earthquake.

How long do you think Spanish authorities would have taken to sort out  a disaster of this magnitude?

We have to recognize that Japan has one of the most effective emergency response services in the world.

Japan’s early warning system is believed to have saved a lot of businesses, hospitals and transportation networks because it service was able to shut down all the running processes thirty to sixty seconds prior to the earthquake.

What happened to Japan was such an enormous tragedy, in particular for a country that is so well prepared. Everyone in this country takes personal responsibility for their own preparation.

We have to understand that four tragedies confluence at the same time: the 9.0 earthquake, the tsunami, the nuclear explosion, and a snowstorm. These four disasters happened within 24 hours.

In those 24 hours we could see wrenching stories, which really struck a chord, but we have to learn a lot of Japanese people, how they were able to deal with those four tragedies at the same time and what incredible society it is in terms of how they came together and helped each other. They are simply extraordinary people.

It’s a reality that nuclear power is the most efficient source of energy that it’s ever been developed, because we can get a big amount of energy with a little amount of uranium but, on the other hand it’s the most dangerous energy too, so …..

Why do human beings have to take so many risks?

Could we live without using nuclear power?

Are human beings unable to produce a less dangerous but efficient energy?

I think that the answer to these questions is YES, but while we’re trying to find an answer, the politicians are busy, thinking about money and trying not to lose their best position in the picture, while the whole world is being polluted.   

Little things that we as individuals can do to prevent climate change

It’s known that our blue planet has been suffering multiple climate changes during its evolution. All of these changes had their origin in natural causes and, like human beings evolution, have been taking place for millions of years. Nowadays, from the industrial revolution which began in the middle of the eighteenth century, the human attacks on the environment have been damaging the ozone layer and, as a consequence, are causing an enormous problem to the Earth, global warming.

Global warming or the greenhouse effect is having fatal consequences for the environment, like ice melting, droughts and a rising in natural disasters. I strongly believe that, apart from governments, we have a lot to do as individuals in order to prevent climate change.

Personally I think that there are daily routines that we can change to help the environment. Actions as simple as turning off the tap while we are brushing our teeth or while we are soaping ourselves in our daily shower, can prevent from wasting water. Another thing we should do is trying to share the car to commute to work. In my opinion this would have important benefits to the environment because exhaust fumes are one of the main causes of the greenhouse effect.

In order to save electricity my recommendation would be changing electric bulbs for energy-saving light bulbs, turn our central heating down and try to keep the air conditioning not below 25º in summer. Recycling is very important too and, at the supermarket, we should only buy recycled things and recycle them after being used.

In conclusion, I am positive that if we applied the measures I have mentioned above individually, our footprint would be reduced considerably. As far as I am concerned, I try to apply all of them on a daily basis and its application makes me feel happy and what’s more, I think that the Earth feels happy too.       

 

Vicent