More grimness

[blamebrampton]

One of my friends has a theory that the Pacific is some sort of magnet for environmental disasters. She may be right.

Very early on the morning of September 29, an earthquake shook the islands of Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga. Shortly afterwards, a great 7m wave crashed over the islands, sweeping away whole villages, killing over 150, with children and the elderly the main victims. Families, homes and livelihoods have all been lost, and there are emergency shipments of fresh food and water and medical care pouring in from Australia, New Zealand and France, and by now from the United States as well (the French have nearby colonies that were not badly affected, and Australia and New Zealand are both reasonably close.)

Yesterday, as the region mobilised aid and tried to comprehend the extent of the disaster, two massive earthquakes ripped through Sumatra, a large Indonesian island. Early reports suggest that te number of dead will range into the thousands. I know that technically Indonesia could be considered in the Indian Ocean, but it is on the same fault line that frequently shakes the Pacific.

None of these countries are rich. In Samoa, there is very little emergency infrastructure. Indonesia is comparatively wealthy, but this is the third major earthquake there this year, and Sumatra is not an island of the well to do.

I know that no one has spare money at the moment. But if you can put off a haircut or pack lunch for a week and save $20, then the following organisations are on the frontline of coordinating relief efforts and will be doing what they can for the people who are left.

The New Zealand Red Cross

The Australian Red Cross

The British Red Cross

The American Red Cross

All four groups are also helping the Fillipino vicitms of Tropical Storm Ketsana, which killed 377 people last week and left many many more homeless.

Looked at in context, dust storms actually seem quite fine to me. And so this post is not wholly lacking in humour, I heard a great comment about the dust storm on the ABC tonight, from a farmer out west: 'Bloody city people, they're not satisfied with taking our water, now they're taking our dirt!'

Comments

[ant-queen.livejournal.com]

>the Pacific is some sort of magnet for environmental disasters

If by "magent" you're referring to being on the edge of a tectonic plate, then yes.

I did some headdesking today when I heard people on the radio referring to the earthquakes and tsunamis as being "climate change" events. Bushfires, drought, flood, severe weather events - yes. Tectonic plate movement, not so much.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Ah, hold your horses there! As it turns out, increased pressure from heightened sea levels CAN increase volcanic events, and quite possibly earthquakes: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327273.800-climate-change-may-trigger-earthquakes-and-volcanoes.html

So the nutty may not be as nutty as they look, which is a shame, really, as I doubt they read the article or any of the journal articles it was based on ...

And California is on a major fault and doesn't receive a fraction of the natural disasters. I swear, if it turns out that there is a god and he is an American after all, I am going to be exceedingly pissed off.

[ant-queen.livejournal.com]

Okay, I conceeed a slight link between climate change and tectonic plate movement, though I think the recent earthquakes are more likely the plates just having their semi-regular jostle. And given the radio comment I heard was more along the lines of "OMG, those quakes, like you know, totally about climate change" so probably not the most well-research commentary.

My CD player in my car has died. I've been listening to the radio. It hurts...

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

ABC Classical FM! 2MBS! More Beethoven than you can shake a stick at!

Yeah, I doubt the radio call in people were in any way attempting science. Though I found the article both fascinating and spooky!