Blog 12: Disaster Information From Sandy

Through Hurricane Sandy, there have been huge rushes to teach about the danger of global warming and effects that nature has on our societies. We’ve been trying to teach everyone about human-driven climate change and being more involved with assessing ways to get a hold of the monstrous greenhouse emissions that are coming from us.

                This problem is said to affect us in extreme climate events that will increase not only in problem, but hopefully awareness and concern. Climate change awareness is “complex and strongly mediated by socially constructed attitudes” spoke George Marshall. HE believes that it is important to recongnize the social obsticales are removed by major impacts. He used an example of a fire in Texas because of an exteme drout in central Texas. He interviewed and noted that none of them mcould recall nay conversation about climate change and the fires. The people made no connetion or willingness to fix any of the problems because they didn’t notice any change in the weather and they weren’t interested in talking about it because of their pride, value of social relations, and resillence to overcome challenges. From these observations, he proved three things that happen to our societies because of disasters:

1.       Disasters can reinforce social networks and establish norms and worldviews:

·         He explained that in strong communities people tend to pull together and show inspiring collaboration and purpose, but that attitudes to climate change are related with political and ideological views, therefore making us anticipate that a stronger cultural problem can make it harder for ideas to be voiced or accepted. This created severe problems in climate changes within societies. Therefore creating a problem that will continue to grow larger and larger. Then, we could anticipate that extreme events might also reinforce concern to accept the climate changes. So, for example, Hurricane Sandy affects attitudes to climate change of both people and nature.

2.       Disasters can increase social confidence and certainty:

·         This acceptance of climate change requires a high leels of self-critisism and self doubt TI requires preparedness to accept personal responsibilities for the problems that we create in nature, and in doing this, we create debate and conflict beause we blame each other. Disasters provide proof of the worth of eisting social systems. Just like if your current economic model has served well, you’d feel like you don’t need to accept change. As Marshall explained, it’s just like the Germany and US War. When the US won, they inflated their global authority and it has stayed that way ever since. It’s just like the acceptance of climate change

3.       Disasters encourage powerful and compelling survival narratives that overwheale more complex ones:

·         People’s vview of the world is shaped through certain narratives, wrote Marshall. It was explained that social groups seek to negotiate naratives that are simple, easy, appealing, and share values. In doing this, they’ll reject competing narratives that’ll challenge the overall worldview. Then that narrative will have a hard time being accepted as a high social truth. Like in Texas the fires were caused by weather conditions that were caused by climate changed caused by the culture and behavior of it’s residents. Then, blame begins to rise after Disasters and we put our entire world in a pointing finger battle, when really we’re all to blame.

With all of these ideas, the range on Disasters has now expanded to be explained globally and socially because of the norms that we break and the disasters we cause because of our pride or our living conditions. We are the number one thing that causes disasters because of the way we live, but it’s up to us to fix it if we want to continue on and prosper globally, the question is how to begin. WE start with a step. 

Blog 11: Laos' Dam Issues

Years of neighboring countries with Laos have finally reached their end with the country pushing ahead with a controversial project to aim the lower regions of the Mekong River. The reason: to plan to triple hydroelectric production and sell power to neighbors by building 10 more plants on the river. Not only are they going against Mother Nature, they are going against their neighbors fears that the Xayburi project would destroy the waterway and damage the lives of 60 million people.

                Around the river, giant problems have shown to arise for the people. The start of this industrial and environmental disaster has been breaking the land around the river. With giant cement-making cylinders being prepared to replace temporary equipment, and the first stages of navigation on their way, the waterway seems more broken with each day. Wide dirt roads have now been created for transportation of different trucks and earth movers to the site for construction purposes, with more roads being constructed constantly. Not only this but they even build a gasoline station and houses for managers, engineers and support staff to set up the conveyor belts and crushing operations for the limestone inside of a cherished quarry. These heartbreaking destructive acts have already cost them 100 million dollars, and it’s getting worse. With this rate, they’ll start needing to borrow more from everyone, taking our entire economy down little by little.

                Though country seems like it’s trying to stake its future for the better, the new burst of hydroelectric power isn't going to do any good. There have been concerns expressed by Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia all stating that the dam will endanger fish species in the world’s largest inland fishery and disrupt the flow of rich silt downstream. “Everything will be destroyed”, commented Prasarn Marukkapitak, a member of the Thai Senate. Not only does he believe this, but he also believes that it will create conflict within the region as a whole, and it will destroy the lives of fishermen that have been working on the river of years.

                These concerns are no small issue, but people still keep rejecting them. Laos is rejecting many of the complains, saying that the impeding sediment problem won’t be affected with the new take on of the river, but scientists proved otherwise.

                Along with everything they are doing, they will add a 1,260 megawatt facility (the same size as an average U.S. plant) will be added to the site. This plant is said to provide electricity to about a million households in the underdeveloped county, and other countries around. Yes, power to countries in need is a good thing, but destroying our earth and endangering the food supply for over 60 million people isn’t quite worth it, neither is the soon to be 7 billion dollar deficit that will arise when the entire project is finished.

                Overall, their idea for this project is a nice start, but they are going about it the wrong way. When it comes down to environmental issues, we always have to go for the protection of Mother Nature because She is the one who doesn’t need to be harmed. When she is harmed, larger environmental disasters happen, like the food deprivation of 60 million people. That is something, we as a world, cannot afford. Sure, they are trying to do something bigger, but in this case, doing something bigger is only shocking them into something worse. 

Blog 10: Sandy

As we have all read, and I’m sure experienced or felt, hurricane Sandy has been attacking the east coast for days. Catastrophic flooding, fires, and awful storms have followed within their path. In Hoboken and NY city suburbs, neighborhoods across the state and iconic boardwalks have been destroyed with New Jersey taking the largest brunt of it.                

                Officials in Jersey say that they’ve had it the worst. Billions of dollars in property damage have been said to arise from this storm. At least 2 million people have been without power since Wednesday, and more than 6,000 people have been put into shelters.

                Through the course of this time, Jersey’s official even announced that eight people’s lives were already taken. Thus announcing their concern for more fatalities if this continued. For day’s the officials and policeman have been struggling to find and evacuate more homes, but with each toll, they find more fatalities.

                This catastrophic event has taken out: boardwalks along Seaside Heights, Belmar, and other towns; amusement parks, arcades and restaurants; bridges to barrier islands; and many, many property’s. This destructing has led to state wide curfews to prevent looting. Gasoline stations and grocery stores are being stripped bare by the minute because of the large fear radiating off of this hurricane.

                Not only is this a problem in Jersey, but in the Northeast. In long island there have been over 60 deaths and 6 million left without powers. These crisis, however, don’t relate quite to the flooding crisis in Hoboken. The city across the river of Manhattan has flooded in ways no one has ever seen. When the storm him, the Hudson River overcame the sea wall with devastating torrents that made the eastern half of the city higher, leaving 20,000 people stuck within their homes until the Natural Guard came in.

                No one knows what exactly caused Hurricane Sandy, but what we do know is that she is costing us million of dollars. This is a devastating problem because of our own trillion dollar deficit. If this hurricane is causing fatalities and causing our deficit to go up, obviously we have a problem. This is one of the times when we all need to come together and that’s exactly what we are doing. With support, not only from President Obama but also from the nation as a whole, we have the ability to get out of this crisis together.

                Natural disasters destroy, yes, but they also have the ability to bring us together. Sure Hurricane Sandy has destroyed, but she has also helped out nation to learn how to cooperate with one another in a way that helps solve the crisis, in a way that helps other people give comfort, and in a way that helps us all stay together.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/01/nyregion/new-jersey-continues-to-cope-with-hurricane-sandy.html?pagewanted=all

Refugees and the cause from Environmental Disasters: Blog 9

In the last few years, 70 million people have been forced to leave their homes because conflict, political problems, and most importantly environmental disasters have forced them out. The World Disasters Repor, according to Mark Tran, said many migrants are permanently dispossessed, making many governments and humanitarian agencies adopt different ways to approach migration. Thus resulting to a forced migration of 8 billion dollars a year. According to Professor Roger Zetter, 1 in every 100 people are displaced by general conflict and natural disasters. These reports have even become urbanized as areas become larger areas for refugees, IDPs, and everyone who runs. These overpopulated areas have resulted in 10.5 million refugees and 13 million IDPs being forced to live in urban areas.

                Within the past few years, cities in Iraq, Sudan, Somalia, Kenya, Yemen, and Haiti have been affected by overpopulated people because of war fumes, and natural or destructive disasters. Kabul, according to Tran, grew from 1 million inhabitants, to 4.5 million. This was driven by returning refugees, and IDPs fleeing the country because of the Taliban bombings and force. Thus resulting in the placement of 3.9 people in the population in Columbia.  This increasing number is said to force the humanitarian agencies to adapt to the forced migration by expanding the range of camps. This means that there will be large areas of vulnerability and overpopulation which can cause worse climate changes and shifts in the atmosphere.

                These refugees create a problem with numbers within and for organizations that have to try to make groups, councils, and authorities to keep the bodies in line. There have to be many different housing, land, and property rights that have to be given to the refugees. This creates a problem because of deforestation to build many different and new properties, as well as room for more land to house more people.

                Concerns continue to rise for refugees who have no intent to return home because they are trapped in protracted exile. These number adds up to almost 20 million refugees, thus resulting to the relaxed restrictions on the economic activities of the idp refugees to help populations disperse quickly. States, however, can grant residency for these people who can then create businesses, hold academic qualifications, and fill shortages in jobs, so there is a plus in the economy, but some groups that are trying for this cause have been unsuccessful.

                These jobs and businesses could greatly boost our economy, taking people out of lower poverty lines and bringing them into a higher class ratio, thus diminishing the awful percentages for our unemployment rates that we have now.  There are two different ideas within this problem: the concern for deforestation, but also the additions to our broken economy. Either way it goes; there are also positives and negatives to this mass migration of people. It helps, but it also is destructive, thus leaving our world to think about the best options for the people who live within it. 

Source: NY times article

Blog 8: Deforestation

Forest destruction has played a major role in our world for the last few decades in hopes that jobs would be given to people to boost our economy. By destroying forests, we have taken away the habitats of animals, but also given jobs to men and women, as well as facilities that could house thousands of jobs for workers. Forest destruction has, in some cases, possibly been a help, but now, it’s becoming too much. I Madagascar alone, more than 80 percent of their palms are being threatened with extinction because of forest-cutting for agriculture and mining. What many forest destruction companies don’t know is: the destruction of these forests are what have been giving us a large amount of weather related catastrophes in the world. According to the New York Times, there have been 4 in Asia, 2.5 in Africa, 2 in Europe, 1.5 in South America, and then we had Hurricane Katrina, one of the deadliest events in the world so far. It has cost us over 40 billion dollars in just claims alone! These aren’t problems that just come up; they are caused by chain reactions. After this, we had the Fukushima disaster in Japan, that eventually lead us to longer expansions of nuclear sectors. This has caused us $12.75 billion dollars that is continuing to go up. Where are these plants going to go? In what are now our forests. We have nations fighting one another on forest rights, animal rights, and just about everything else. In India, the Supreme Court passed a law to only allow 20 percent of any habitats to be open to humans because the habitats are dwindling down into nothing. Once these habitats are going, the only thing we’ll have is increased Weather Disasters and Catastrophes like Katrina that will only pull our Economy into further disposition and decline.

          This brings me back to the point in Madagascar alone. The palms that are becoming extinct have been a part of their biodiversity for years. These palms provide resources to some of Madagascar’s poorest communities providing house construction, and food. These losses of habitat have been putting major strain on Madagascar as a whole.

          We then have the issue with high temperatures and natural disasters that are threatening our world as a whole. Katrina was just the beginning of the catastrophes that will continue to happen if we keep cutting our forests down to build more power plants or factories for workers. Disasters have already driven the world’s economy down to an outstanding 510 billion dollar loss; this has been one of the highest we’ve ever had. Yet we still continue to wonder why our economy is dwindling down into nothing and there are poor nations and struggling countries. Our world revolves off of chain reactions and we have to stop it before it gets any worse.

 http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/17/reinsurance-climate-idUSL5E8LHMK120121017

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/18/on-our-radar-tigers-and-tourism/

http://allafrica.com/stories/201210180549.html

Blog #7: Natural Disasters, to Japan's Action, to World Bank Thoughts.

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“No country can fully insulate itself from disaster risk, but every country can reduce its vulnerability. Better planning can help reduce damage and loss of life from disasters…” Jim Yong Kim, World Bank Group President.

                In Japan, 2011, there was a tsunami that cost the entire world over 3.5 trillion dollars that will be carried behind us for the next 30 years. Situations like these catastrophes caused the World Bank to raise and demand solutions for these national disasters as well as better disaster planning. This brought about a Policymakers meeting in Sendai, one of Japan’s majorly damaged cities in the northeast, made a point that infrastructure in economies should be designed to minimize the cost of natural disasters. That way we wouldn’t have to face 3.5 trillion dollars of debt between all nations.

                So, the World Bank started doing experiments, going to different places, trying to get a hold of what they could fix and how. They visited an elementary school, where 320 people took shelter on the roof from the waves that had previously struck in the tsunami disaster. This same school had even served as an emergency evacuation centre when the waters had receded. The school had many different items that made them well prepared and well equipped to be an emergency evacuation station. Items such as blankets and food. “

                They then went to another part in Japan’s northeast region, where huge waves swept over and killed nearly 19,000 people. This opened the World Bank’s eyes, making them want to learn from Japan because of their nicely developed disaster management plans. The “resilience of the Japanese people in their reconstruction efforts, and their generosity in sharing that experience with us” is truly amazing, said Kristalina Georgieva, European Union Commissioner. These studies and hopes brought about plans for disaster planning on a part of a lot of emerging economies.

                Though the decision isn’t quite made up yet, it is still a large possibility that will help as a general whole. If we together as a nation can bring about disaster relief in a better way, the entire economy of the world will not be faltering as much anymore. Natural and Catastrophic disasters are a part of our world, and they have been for a very long time, that’s not going to change. The only thing that will change is our action, and our voice. What will we do about these disasters to better our world as a whole? I think both the World Bank and Japan have a pretty fantastic head start. If we can put those decisions into action, our entire world won’t be in such bad turmoil anymore, but we’ll be able to fight through it together, leaning on each other. We all experience a lot of the same natural disasters within each country. If we can give aid to other countries, and get their aid in return, as well as their ideas, there will be change in the economy and in our World. 

http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/stories/planning-can-cut-costs-of-disasters

Blog #6 Geothermal Power Crisis

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Japan has many white steamed thermal springs within its heart. These springs have attracted developers who want to begin geothermal power plants in the Kurikoma Kokutei Koen, which are mountain areas behind a national monument. Thought the developers have promised to stop the process if they see a change in the spring flow, but that doesn’t make a difference. Pressures in the streams tend to develop the thermal energy potential of the region. And  Japan has been struggling to find alternative energy sources for a while since the earthquake destroyed the Fukushima Daiichi power plant last March, thus resulting in the closing of 54 nuclear reactors. These reactors did power 30 percent of Japan’s electricity, therefore causing a national energy shortage when the plants were shut down. This brings a cause for the geothermal power plants. Unlike solar energy, geothermal energy can stay consistent and stable in output and has been said to stay going for quite some time, thus bring Japan hope that this type of energy is better.

Renewable energy enthusiasts have been hoping that this new energy can help solve the power crisis. Overall, Japan is raked third in geothermal energy reserves between Indonesia and the United States. This made the Japanese government recently aim to triple renewable energy sources by 2030.

            This all affects us all majorly because of all the money that is going into paying for these geothermal energy development actions. 9 billion dollars has been set aside to pay for geothermal energy development surveys and then 7.5 billion dollars is going towards the payment next year. Then, another 9 billion dollars is going into extending the program for the 2013 year. This is creating a lot of debt problems within Japan but also around the world. It’s effecting our economy by putting everyone into a larger debt than we already are.

            Along with this, there are now 17 geothermal plants operation nationwide, including nine in national parks and monuments. This is believed to have caused the Fukushima disaster and has been said to raise global warming problems within not only Japan, but all over the world. This takes money from the world because so much is going towards aid responsibilities and debt problems. Of course, the power plants are giving jobs to many city residents, moving them into mechanical solidarity and organic solidarity because of the “unique industry” that lies within the power plants, but these are  also taking away homes and causing a lot more deforestation.

            Going into this project, everyone knows that it’ a risk. There is the possibility of much more debt, deforestation, and loss of lives. There could also be another crisis just like Fukushima. Not to mention, the rising global warming problems that have been rising since this project started. This project has already been drying up springs for time, such as Steamboat Springs in Nevada.

            Sure these plants will help produce safer energy, and more jobs, but is risking life, high global warming problems , debt, and unnatural disasters worth it?

        http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/02/business/energy-environment/geothermal-power-tests-tradition-in-japan.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Blog #5: Arctic Disasters

            For over 30 years, the Artic has been suffering. For years and years the artic has been slowly shrinking. The lowest records were previously recorded in 1979, at around 1.54 million sq miles. Yes, that sounds like a large number, but it really isn’t. That lowest recorded rate is 45% less than the average amount of ice caps we used to have. In today’s times because of global warming, our ice caps have now reduced to 25% in the last 10 years. “It’s an account that the Artic is suddenly changing”, said Walt Meier, a scientist from NSDIC. This slowly growing catastrophe caught the attention of many environmentalists hoping that it would bring about some form of change in our society. This however, hasn’t happened. What many people don’t know is what’s really killing us: the expeditiously growing oil drilling industry.

            The drilling industry is what’s killing our environment and bringing various ranges of climate changes to our world. Researchers found that there are over 90 billion barrels of oil buried beneath the Artic. This adds up to 13% of the earths’ reserves. 90 BILLION barrels of oil inside of our Artic, and we’re wondering why our climate changes are so random? These changes are caused strictly by the burning of fossil fuels in our world, whether it’s from machine factories for our workers to better the economy, or just cars, we are burning way too many fuels. The result, you ask? The high climate changes  that melt the Artic ice. Then from this, the drilling companies send their ships farther and farther north, finding more fuel to burn, and destroying our ozone and climate routines. The heavy amount of drilling and excess climate change is called the “positive feedback cycle”, meaning that carbons are sent into our ozone and air, then the planet warns up, and then our ice caps melt, resulting in the melted caps running into the oceans causing the sea level to rise, or decreasing the water into vapor with the severely hot heat.  

            Does this positive feedback cycle matter to those drilling companies? No. Considering the fact that the Shell Company began drilling a well 70 miles off the coast of Alaska, I don’t think they care too much. Researchers, Environmental Activists, and many Humanitarians tried to protest this drilling into the icy depths of
Chukchi, but their cries werent’ heard. On August 30^th, their drill was approved, and they began to chop and dig into our icy depths. Sure, this new drill created many different jobs for the betterment of our economy, but what is an economy if we’re all drowning in high sea levels, or burning from the high heat? Not to mention the fact that this drill could possibly spill into the depths and could quite possibly be a spill that can never be fixed. What happens to those animals when their habitats are destroyed? And what happens to us when the heat becomes too unbearable? As Port Hope, mayor of the Alaskan Arctic village, told CNN news, “If Shell finds what it thinks is down there, then many other companies are going to come and then it’ll only be a matter of time before something happens down there.” This drilling isn’t something to be taken lightly just because it’s helping us out with jobs. When the catastrophe of our world compromises our economy, something should be done. Obviously human survival is more important than our economy at the moment. If we are dying of heat or suffocation by water, what does our economy matter once we’re gone? Many people don’t know that so many drilling procedures are ruinng our Arctic. If they continue, there won’t be an artic anymore. Just high sea levels and high temperatures.

            This isn’t the only problem either, people. Obama, our president, hasn’t even tried to stop any of this drilling since the BP oil spill. If that doesn’t pose a problem, I don’t know what does. If this continues, there will be no Arctic, and if it continues after that…there might not be a human race.

http://science.time.com/2012/09/11/arctic-sea-ice-vanishes-and-the-oil-rigs-move-in/

Wildfires: How They Help and Destroy (Blog 4)

On September 9, 2012 lightning hit Washington State starting the Wenatchee Complex Fire. According the Science Daily, the fire has grown over 39,000 acres and in only 22 percent contained. The fire is becoming so bad because there are a series of smaller fires inside the larger fires. The Canyon Fire has consumed 7,601 acres, Byrd Fire: 13,978 acres, Poison Canyon fire, 5,999 acres, Pevine Canyon: 7,540 acres, First Creek: 1,237 acres, Pyramid Fire: 431 acres, Klone Fire: 1,103 acres, Cashmere: 658 acres, Basalt: 136 acres, Misc: 737 acres. Most of these fires have not been contained yet. Within these fires there is the Okanogen Complex Fire that started from a lightning strike a day prior to the Wenatchee Fire, consuming over 5,000 acres. Inside of this fire included Buckhorn, Leecher, and the Hunter Fire. Then, a week after this, the Goat Fire started, with a cause still undergoing investigation.

Science Daily continues on to explain the Table Mountain Complex Fire that also started by a lightning strike on September 8 of this year. Currently 9,500 acres have been consumed. This fire includes four larger fires along with some smaller fires as well. This behavior has been caused by inversion lifting overnight holds on lightning strikes, making them become active. As SD explains, “An inversion is smoke and warm gasses which are generated by a fire that rises only until the temperature equals that of the surrounding air; then, the smoke flattens out and spreads horizontally because it has lost it’s lift. It’s a very stable condition which may trap smoke or fog near Earth’s surface.” The cause of an inversion is wind shifts which can create a much larger fire, rather than a fire that is sustainable. Those embers can then spread to another forest, and catch flame there, too.

Along with this fire, the Yakama Fire Complex caught flame on the 8^th because of, yet again, another lighting storm. There have been over 3,000 strikes in Eastern Washington, creating over 100 fires. Thus leaving forest to be completely destroyed and with only 40 percent of these fires contained, more and more acres are being consumed daily. The biggest concern right now is keeping the fires from moving east onto the Yakama nation, and private lands.

In trying to search more research about how to prevent wildfires, I went to SmokeyBear.com to find out more information. A few shocking things were found when I visited the website. There are 5701466 acres that have been burned this year, thus ruining lands that could be used for agricultural purposes, houses, and animal habitats. This not only destroys Mother Nature, but hurts our overall economy as well. We can’t grow anything on dead land; we can’t build houses because of smoke and chemicals, thus ruining our chances for a better economy and expansion.

                Not only do fires ruin the possibility of expansion, but they make the factory jobs much harder while still trying to improve jobs. There is a lot of equipment used in fire suppression, such as aircraft systems for cargo, fire-retardant chemicals, water delivery systems, firefighter clothing, bulldozers and plows, air tankers, helicopters, bambi buckets(collapsible bucket below a helicopter), and Pulaskis. In trying to create these, lots of factory workers have to be hired on overtime to make them in an efficient manner to help stop the fires as quickly as possible. Operators of the machinery are required, along with the makers of the equipment.

                In conclusion, wildfires are serious hazards for our world. While they are very destructive, they also have the potential to create jobs to help with our economy, but they also have the potential to destroy our economy as well.

http://www.smokeybear.com/fighting-wildfires.asp

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120921142832.htm

Oil Spill Crisis

According to the New York Times, an explosion happened in April 20, 2010. The Deep-water Horizon, connected to a well owned by BP, the oiling company, and caused the biggest oil spill in history. During these last two years, the results of the damage have constantly been modified. People and their livelihoods have been shaky for the last few years. The surface oil has, yes, been captured, but it’s what’s under the oil that is making everyone worry. Numerous beaches have been destroyed, as well as sea creatures lives. But now, the fish are edible, jobs near beaches are returning and offshore drilling has been made possible again (with stricter rules, of course).  After a trial and error attempt at trying to plug a leak that began April 20^th, BP finally capped the Macondoo in July, 86 days after the oil was gushing into the sea. Five months later, it blew out of control and emptied everything into the sea. Soon after this, the oil wells were abandoned. These oil wells added up to five million barrels of oil that had dumped into the gulf. Thus overseeing 3.3 million barrels that spilled into the Bay of Campeche in 1979. But they soon noticed that they were wrong on their calculations in September, when they noticed that 185 gallons had truly been leaked into the sea from the broken well.  

The sick black tar began to make landfall in Louisiana, and then Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. Soon after is began to spread onto tourist beaches, the shorelines of sleepy coastal communities and oozing in to bays that fishermen have worked in for generations. By August, however, the tar began dissolving rapidly. But the results of damage are indecisive because of the massive underwater damage. Thus bringing us into the settlement plan.  

What was the cause of this whole thing you ask? The “unsafe behavior on the rigs”, according to Times. Many different components such as the blowout preventer and failsafe valves hadn’t been inspected since 2000, thus going against the guidelines of every three o five years of inspection.  The concerns with matinence just ignored the constant small leaks, till the explosion happened. Then they turned their attention to plugging the well so they could move it away from the gulf. Obviously, their trials only came out in error.

We think it’s a lack of bedeviled preparation, organization, urgency, and clear lines of authority among federal, state and local officials, and especially BP. Everyone just overlooked the amount of oil that was flowing into the gulf, and completely ignored all the leakage that was happening after it was capped. This made everyone lose faiths in the government’s ability to handle the spill and ruined our trust with them. The National Oceanic an atmospheric Administration even asked the White House to make public the worst case of this accident, but the request was denied.  Soon after in 2010, Obama decide to announce that they would get involved to fight the spill. They didn’t allow any offshore drilling and an investigation was thus brought about. This lead to Obama first Oval Office speech where he announced the account to compensate the victims of the spill.

This spill not only destroyed Mother Nature, but seriously destroyed our energy sources for the future.

The major concern, however, is the charges made on BP for the large oil spill that continues to destroy our lands today. BP has recently been charged of destroying evidence by deleted text messages of the documented oil that as spilled. The engineer, Kurt Mix, was charged with the counts of obstruction of justice. Officials were led to believe that this was related to the massive explosion of Deep-water Horizon. Mr. Mix, according to the Times, “was involved in efforts to monitor and stop the oil leaking forum the well following the accident.” Obviously, he didn’t do a very good job. In the long run, BP was ultimately responsible for the accident and would be charged for their fatal mistakes, as well as the contractors, Transocean, which owned the drilling rig.  Many officials are even saying that it would cost 7.8 billion dollars to fix all of the damaged done. Over 14 billion has already been given to respond to the spill. Thus putting our nation more at risk for a worse economy than we already are in .

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/o/oil_spills/gulf_of_mexico_2010/index.html

Blog #2: At Least Someone's Trying

Nations of the Asia-Pacific have been striving to promote trade in green technologies for years. They've been trying to promote a free-trade zone for years. Finally, on Sept 6, 2012, the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation, a consensus-based group focused on economic problems,  agreed to cut import duties on technology to improve economic growth to help save the environment. Since APEC represents 40 percent of the world's population, 54 percent of the economic output and 44 percent of its trade (NY Times Article), this promotion could have large affects on our worlds environmental concerns. According to the deputy U.S trade representative, Demetrious Marantis, this would be a "significant achievement" that will show just how APEC can impact our world through the accomplishments of "liberalizing trade and green growth". In doing this, the head reps of APEC decided on 54 green technologies that will have import duties of 5 percent in 2015. Import duties that include equipment meant for generating power from reusable and renewable sources such as the sun, wind, waste water recycling and environmental monitoring. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, these ideas will triple export profits to $14.6 trillion, as opposed to the $5.6 trillion non-APEC countries will move to. In addition to this, APEC will take-on "content requiremnets" to import restrictions for impediments to trade, thus creating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (new free trade deal from Washington). The TPP will be meeting next week to expand on the multilateral free-trade deal that was submitted two years ago. With this, they're working to iron out a lot of problems that could potentially better the environment and especially our globalization and economy problems by a validated amount. They are " working together to create a high-standard, 21st century trade agreement that addresses a lot of problems that exporters are facing in a way that will grow jobs and create new opportunities for exporters" said Marantis.
Obviously with our nations declining economy and environmental issues, this trade deal could greatly help out with our problems, therefore helping us try to improve as a nation, but also as a group of countries. Thereby helping us to create a Free World with this new free trade system, as well as giving our nation the ability to finally go green with a lot of our technology, instead of using unnatural resources constantly, thereby destroying our earth, as well as, hopefully getting rid of the large amounts of exploitation that are destroying our economy. It's quite possible that our economy could improve if the amount of exploitation were to go down, as well as diminishing all the distortion that is destroying us as a whole. Hopefully now, we could possibly all be equal, rather than constant competition between the richer nations and the poorer nations. Not to mention, with the environmental precautions being used, we could better the state of our world. For example: the sun, we can have solar powered electronic grids, windows, technology to stop the large need for other resources killing our planet. With wind, we can create more technology, and with recycling, we can reuse what we have previously used, that way we won’t have to continue to destroy resources for use. Overall, this free trade agreement can do more than just help the environment, but it can also go towards the help of our globalization and economy problems, therefore helping us in the long run with our countries as a whole.
This topic as a whole has really taken on an argument with many different officials, however, because some think that it would worsen our economy as it stands, rather than continue to help replenish it. People such as the U.S umbrella group, Citizens Trade Campaign, believe that the TPP possesses the power to result in the loss of American Jobs mainly because China, the worlds second largest economy, isn't a part of the plan. In addition to China, Russia also isn't a part of the plan because they fear they aren't "ready to join" the large partnership. They want to, however, better the economic gwoth without endangering the enviroment. So, what reason do they have for not joining if that is the main reason the TPP is organizing all these ideas in the first place?
The ideas of the TPP and the APEC are great ideas. They could truly be a large benefit in the restoration of our world and of our worlds spiraling economy. If they truly do what they say they are going to do by using the economic resources for good, their benefit will truly be one that could start something bigger. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/08/business/energy-environment/asia-pacific-forum-to-cut-import-duties-for-green-technologies.html

First a Chain of Storms, Now Hurricane Isaac.

Rain, violent winds, floods, and hideous mudslides were just the beginning to the major disturbance called Hurricane Isaac. According to the NY Times, Isaac turned into a tropical storm on Aug. 25, 2012, with mudslides and floods that killed nearly 29 people in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Obviously this storm made it upon the radar at the Republican National Convention in Tampa because of the Hurricane Katrina conflict seven years earlier. By this time, they had all the events cancelled for the convention, but by then Isaac had moved and grown in extreme size. So, this forced the authorities to send out hurricane warnings to cities on the shorelines, thus leading to the evacuation of at least ten thousand people. Ten thousand people that left with the potential possibility of coming back without a home. Shortly after the evacuation, Isaac (who was then classified as a Category 1 Hurricane) took out the Gulf Coast with massive winds up to 80 miles per hour.  The powerful winds then moved to Louisiana, leaving more families without homes, and then it fell just over the Mississippi before moving back over water. On Aug. 29^th, Isaac moved back to Port Fourchon, Louisiana forcing 3000 people to evacuate their homes, as well as trapping many people with Isaac’s raging flood waters. Over 600, 000 residents were without power and flooded into their homes. Luckily, Isaac was downgraded to a tropical storm and continued to move on. By Aug. 30 the storm was 100 miles off course and said to be gone.

This environmental disaster stole many different people from their homes with a “trail of destruction” that killed many different people. Not only this, but the Hurricane was said to be worsened by a mosquito-borne disease that could worsen all of the effects of Hurricane Isaac. Thre were 1,950 cases of the virus with 66 deaths in the United States last week. These numbers could possibly break the record of 2002 and 2003. The reason this awful disease spreads so quickly is because the mosquitos feed off of dead birds. Those birds mainly die out because of tropical storms or hurricanes. When the mosquitos feed on the infected birds, they pick up the West Nile virus and then they spread it to humans with just a tiny bite. After the first major Hurricane, Katrina, the West Nile cases were reported ins ome areas, but now, after Hurricane Isaac, the numbers are said to be at least 3 times larger than 7 years earlier. Not only does this mean that with every Hurricane the possibility of desease could strengthen, but it also means that with every Hurricane 2 times as many people die rather than just with the floods and mudslides, but with mosquitoes, too.

Environmental disasters are major public issues as they affect our world as a whole. Not only are they a major factor in the loss of lives in the World, but also a loss of our many wondrous lands. Hurricanes and storms pollute our air with trash from their rages, fallen trees from their wind, and destruction from their paths. This affects our nation because it leaves us with distraught times and broken lives. Many families are without shelter, food, or trapped inside of their homes because of massive floods and mudslides. And others, left with empty seats at the dinner table and bills for funeral arrangements. This is my biggest concern: the loss of families and the destruction of our planet. This poses the question: how do we fix these problems? Do we try to get further insight in hurricanes and try to strive for a better and faster hurricane alarm, that way families will be able to evacuate? Do we get more teams together to aid the homes and families that are broken? I’m going to ask you: What do we do to fix this problem?

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/30/us/west-nile-deaths-rise-but-isaac-unlikely-to-add-to-peril.html?ref=todayspaper

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/h/hurricanes_and_tropical_storms/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier

Trial Blog

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/04/republicans-attack-obamas-environmental-protection

10:28 August 23rd, 2012

My name is Ashley, but everyone calls me Smudges. Hello. c: