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JapanWhat ha
Japan
What happened on Friday (it was Friday, correct?) was dreadful. First, an 8.9 earthquake, then an even worse tsunami! That's really horrible. I think we should all offer our hearts and prayers to Japan and its people. :-)
submitted by Olive
(March 13, 2011 - 8:15 pm)
(March 13, 2011 - 8:15 pm)
@ALD: High exposure to radiation can cause all types of cancer, not just leukemia. And ARS, which is arguably worse; bleeding from every orifice, massive internal and external burning, skin sloughing off... Not a pleasant way to go.
@Elizabeth D.: Yes, Hawaii had a tsunami a few days ago because of the Japan earthquakes, but between the successful evacuation and the not-terribly-extensive damage, it wasn't too big of an issue. And then Japanese reactors started blowing up and everyone forgot about Hawaii.
@Olive: So far as I'm aware, the steam results from the vaporization of water they throw on the rods inside the reactor to prevent meltdown, so it's a sign that at least some of the cooling system is still functional, and therefore a good thing.
@Elizabeth M. and Olive re: Radioactivity: It's the emission of ionizing radiation, basically.
(March 15, 2011 - 10:44 pm)
But what is radiation?
I heard that a woman was working when the Tsunami happened and all the people ran to the 5th floor but the water still came in so they went to the attic. She survived but that's scary. I can't believe it. Peoples family members and children were all washed away.
(March 16, 2011 - 10:40 am)
Oh, I didn't realize that there was a tsunami in Hawaii...
(March 21, 2011 - 4:26 pm)
There was no tsunami in Hawaii, there were just in a sense "aftershocks" from the original tsunami in japan, although it's not quite the same.
(March 22, 2011 - 10:25 am)
I've seen so much footage of the damage on the news...it is so heartbreaking. I can't imagine what it would feel like to have your possesions, house, even your neighborhood destroyed so quickly. My family and I are praying for Japan and keeping everyone over there in our thoughts. Let's hope that the aftershocks stop so that more things/people don't get hurt!
(March 16, 2011 - 3:34 pm)
No kidding. Thankfully my mom's family (my mom is Japanese) is okay so far, but there is still a daily average of 200 small earthquakes every day, and my mom is trying to arrange for her relatives to come live with us for a while. :)
I hope that Japan will be able to survive through this mess and that not too many people will have died by the end of this horrible disaster.
Also--the nuclear station situation. This could go bad extremely easily, and harm SO MANY PEOPLE. It terrifies me.
(March 16, 2011 - 3:53 pm)
Hey guys, haven't been on the CB for ages so for those of you who don't know me I'n not new. :)
@Jen/Jenni: We haven't talked in so long! I hope your relatives are okay...! I have a bunch of friends who live in Japan, but I never knew exactly where they lived, just that they were "close to Tokyo" and I haven't heard anything from them, so I'm really worried.
This whole earthquake-tsunami-nuclear-meltdown-buisiness is really scary, but in a sense I guess it was better it happened in Japan than anywhere else just because they were so meticulously prepared. I was watching some videos on CNN.com and realized that even though Japan is (was?) probably the most readied for a tsunami/earthquake related disaster, they were no match for something of this scale - seawalls built to protect cities were completely useless, as were houses with reenforced foundations. And something I find really worrying is that the nuclear reactors were only made to withstand a magnitude 7.5 earthquake.... I mean, What if something like this were to happen, say, in California? Is North America even prepared at all?
When I first heard about it, only about 300 people were confirmed dead so i thought it wasn't that huge a deal, it would go up maybe to 500 max... But then I saw the clips of cities being completely washed away, and I was so wrong. Every day I check what the death toll is and it keeps rising... last I heard it was way over 7,300, with about 11,00 missing. It's not anything I would have expected.
And then there's the whole worry about nuclear radiation... I've heard a lot of people talk about how radiation could affect the environment/our health in ways that humans can't predict. It makes sense; nuclear fusion/fission isn't something that ever happens naturally, so there is no real way of knowing what effects there will be. Those who support nuclear energy, I understand why: it's clean burning (ISH), it's efficient; but I personally think these things shouldn't be tampered with, there's way too much to loose. What do you guys think?
(March 19, 2011 - 3:24 pm)
@Trixy: Yes, I agree with you. I understand why people would want to use nuclear energy, but in the long term I don't think it's the way to go. For one, it creates a lot of nuclear waste. But then, as we have been seeing in Japan, it can't withstand natural disasters, or anything that makes the emergency cooling system fail. I just think that we can't risk these things happening - and the issue is, there are a bunch of nuclear reactors in the United States... that are exactly the same. So we'd be in exactly the same trouble as Japan if something were to happen here. I just hope that Japan will be able to recover well and the world will recognize this as a warning so we can prepare ourselves and avoid something like this in the future.
@Jen: I really hope your relatives are okay!! I'll keep them, as well of the rest of Japan, in my thoughts and prayers.
~Leaf
(March 20, 2011 - 10:59 pm)
I disagree.
In the history of nuclear power, there has been only one level-seven disaster, Chernobyl, and that was the fault of the operators because they turned the safety systems off.
What's happening in Japan right now is currently rated at a six, I believe, putting it between Chernobyl and TMI in terms of... badness. *word choice fail*. From what I read in SSR today, electrical power has been restored to all of the reactors in the plant, and operators hope to get cooling pumps back online fairly quickly.
Estimated worst-case scenarios at Fukushima are more or less "it blows up, releases radiation into the air, which then blows towards Tokyo... where its damage can be completely avoided by staying indoors and closing the windows."
It's bad, certainly, and it could have been a lot worse, but it isn't apocalyptic by any means. Given the scale of the earthquake, and the comparatively small amounts of radiation released, I think it's something of a testament to the safety of nuclear plants, rather than the danger. It proves they are not failsafe by any means, but they aren't exactly ticking time bombs of radioactive doom either.
What will happen because of the Fukushima incident is countries, like France, who are largely dependent on nuclear power will probably reevaluate and update their safety standards and invest in research to make sure they can handle disasters that previously were ignored. This will lead to safer nuclear plants and probably more efficient emergency cooling procedures, as that was the main problem at the Fukushima plant.
If the U.S. has any common sense among the higher-ups, it'll do the same because there are nuclear plants in California that are on the same "ring of fire" as Japan. Whether that'll actually happen or not is debatable, though.
No, the main problem with nuclear power remains getting rid of the waste, because obviously putting it in cans and burying it in a fault line is the most efficient and safe way to dispose of it. */sarcasm*. Anyway, the problem of nuclear waste will continue to be the most practical problem of nuclear power, though the panic factor caused by the Fukushima problem will definitely stay most in the public eye.
What I'M worried about with regards to Fukushima and the other disasters is that I'm going to have to pay for it, along with every other American citizen. See, Japan is the second largest holder of American debt, and in order to pay for repairs, relief effort, and general fixing things, they need money. And the obvious way to get that is to sell U.S. debt, except that no one wants to buy our debt which means we have to pay it back and... yeah. We don't have the money, and borrowing to pay off debt isn't a smart idea but then the federal government isn't very smart when it comes to money anyway.
On a lighter note, did you guys hear about the old lady and her grandson? They were trapped in their home for something like nine days before they were found alive by rescue teams.
Yes, I heard that on the news tonight!
Admin
(March 21, 2011 - 7:30 pm)
@TNO: Yeah, and the teenage boy wrapped his grandma in blankets and only took towels for himself. *tears* It took him that long just to get out of the rubble, and wave for help. That's a heartwarming/breaking story.
(March 21, 2011 - 10:38 pm)
Amen Olive!
What happend was horrid!! I think that with this people are getting worried Christ is coming REALLY SOON!
(March 21, 2011 - 3:04 pm)
I just heard that they've gotten the electrical cords hooked up around the nuclear plant, but the won't turn them on until they've checked for damage everywhere, wich could take weeks :(((
(March 22, 2011 - 1:47 pm)
Has anyone heard of the Fukushima 50? They're unidentified workers who are going into the nuclear plant to help at short periods of time, but are getting radiation in the process. And much more than normal. It's basically a suicide mission.
Does anyone know a way to help them?
Oh yes, and then there's Libya and Gadhafi. Apparently he said that the U.S.A. and some other countries, launching missiles at Libya is, "barbaric." Well, he's killing his own people so he shouldn't be talking. :(
Well, does anyone know any charities that can help? And we should keep Japan and Libya and Haiti and even the places effected by Hurricane Katrina. According to my teacher, some people that were made homeless in 2005 by HC are still homeless right now. 2011. 6 years later. :(
(March 22, 2011 - 4:41 pm)
It's all so scary! I'm praying for them as well.
(March 25, 2011 - 3:18 pm)