Fukushima, Three Years On: Disaster Still Lingers

20,000 people used to live here, now it's a ghost town. Welcome to Namie, Japan, now inside the nuclear Exclusion Zone created by the Fukushima disaster. Photo from www.Reddit.com.

Katherine Fuchs of Friends of the Earth writes: “Today is the third anniversary of the tragic earthquake and tsunami in Japan that caused three nuclear reactors in Fukushima to melt down. Three years later, 83,000 residents remain unable to return to their homes in the 4,500 square mile exclusion zone surrounding the wrecked reactors. With 31 reactors of the same design currently operating in the U.S., we should all be asking, “will it happen here next?”

Low levels of radiation will reach ocean waters along the United States’ West Coast next month, scientists said, as fallout from the Fukushima nuclear disaster drifts across the Pacific Ocean.

Radiation will be at levels low enough to leave humans and the environment unharmed, scientists predict, but there are calls for increased monitoring as federal agencies currently do not sample Pacific Coast seawater for radiation, reports USA Today.

As reported by Andrew Freedman at http://mashable.com/2014/03/11/three-years-after-fukushima/

“The disaster at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant in Japan on March 11, 2011, destroyed tens of thousands of lives and had ripple effects around the world as nations reliant upon or considering nuclear power rethought their plans.

The meltdown of three of the six nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, about 130 miles north of Tokyo, was the worst nuclear disaster since the Chernobyl accident in Ukraine in 1986. The result of a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and associated tsunami waves that reached heights exceeding 100 feet, the disaster demonstrated that nuclear power plant operators may not have anticipated the full range of worst-case scenarios that could beset their facilities.

The tsunami's swift and massive waves crippled the power plant by taking out its power supply and cooling system, with workers resorting to desperate measures to cool the reactors to prevent an even more significant disaster.

The damage at the plant was so severe that more than 100,000 residents of the nearby Fukushima Prefecture had to be relocated, and complex cleanup operations at the plant continue.

While the damage was confined to Japan, the waves were detected across the Pacific Ocean, moving at speeds of up to 500 mph.

In the U.S., the disaster spurred the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which is responsible for overseeing the 100 nuclear power plants operating in the country, to re-assess safety planning and issue some new requirements for plants that are of similar design as Fukushima. Exelon, which is the country’s largest nuclear-reactor operator, runs 17 of the commercial reactors. According to a New York Times report, the company expects to spend up to $500 million upgrading its plants based on lessons learned from Fukushima.

“Fukushima woke up the world nuclear industry, not just the U.S.,” the chairwoman of the NRC, Allison M. Macfarlane, told the Times. “It woke everybody up and said: ‘Hey, you didn’t even think about these different issues happening. You never thought about an earthquake that could create a tsunami that would swamp your emergency diesel generators and leave you without power for an extended period. You never planned for more than one reactor going down at a site, you have to think about that now.’ ”

Scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey have updated earthquake data for the central and eastern U.S., providing nuclear operators with new information about the earthquake risks their plants face, and the safety standards they should meet. Coastal plants face other risks, such as storm surge flooding from coastal storms such as hurricanes, and the long-term challenge of sea level rise due to global warming.”

The Rolling English Road

Photo from http://www.flickriver.com/places/United+Kingdom/England/Egton+Grange/

It has been a long, wild winter. A sting of nostalgia for the old ways in the old country bit me this morning as I snow-shoed out to the road once more and then tried to move the tractor from under mountains of snowdrift. G. K. Chesterton was a fascinating, erudite social critic who espoused a more just political system called Distributism, which has often been described in opposition to both socialism and capitalism, which distributists see as equally flawed and exploitative. He also had a joyous sense of humour as the following paean to the ways of old attests:

Before the Roman came to Rye or out to Severn strode,

The rolling English drunkard made the rolling English road.

A reeling road, a rolling road, that rambles round the shire,

And after him the parson ran, the sexton and the squire;

A merry road, a mazy road, and such as we did tread

The night we went to Birmingham by way of Beachy Head.

I knew no harm of Bonaparte and plenty of the Squire,

And for to fight the Frenchman I did not much desire;

But I did bash their baggonets because they came arrayed

To straighten out the crooked road an English drunkard made,

Where you and I went down the lane with ale-mugs in our hands,

The night we went to Glastonbury by way of Goodwin Sands.

His sins they were forgiven him; or why do flowers run

Behind him; and the hedges all strengthening in the sun?

The wild thing went from left to right and knew not which was which,

But the wild rose was above him when they found him in the ditch.

God pardon us, nor harden us; we did not see so clear

The night we went to Bannockburn by way of Brighton Pier.

My friends, we will not go again or ape an ancient rage,

Or stretch the folly of our youth to be the shame of age,

But walk with clearer eyes and ears this path that wandereth,

And see undrugged in evening light the decent inn of death;

For there is good news yet to hear and fine things to be seen,

Before we go to Paradise by way of Kensal Green.

Snow Spiral

We now have a  snow spiral punctuating the landscape. Not a crop circle, but a snow spiral. I paid a visit early this sunny morning on snowshoes, essential footware for this wild winter of ours. The winds keep on blowing, and the snow keeps on falling and drifting. In the open fields the cover is not that deep – ideal foundation for a snow spiral to meditate upon from the upstairs reading room window.

So, what do I as an organic farmer without heated greenhouses do in the winter?

Of late: research food and farming, post blogs, muse on nature and political manipulations, promote my book High Up in the Rolling Hills with a blog tour, dream of the Greek Islands, watch Zorba The Greek in black and white on TV, read Report to Greco by Nikos Kazantzakis, share convivial dinner with friends, bone up on soils, minerals and micro-organisms, chop wood, feed the woodstove, clear the heavy snow off the greenhouses, nursing sore leg muscles navigate the way through the drifts of snow to the car by the road and the outside world, bring in supplies of Seville oranges, lemons, sugar for marmalade making, and bottles of wine for sustenance, take in the opening of the Sochi winter Olympics (shaking my head at hearing of Canada’s new “swagger”). Stuff like that. Oh yes, and look out on a snow spiral glittering in the rising sun. With hard work for ten months combined with rest, snow and sun to recharge with over the two main months of winter, it is a wonderful living.

Armed with our fresh batch of Seville orange marmalade (currently suffusing the house with its citrusy aroma), grass-fed beef and dried herbs, spices and teas, we do aim to be at Evergreen Brickworks farmers market next Saturday, February 15, then weekly from March 8 on. Hard to believe that a month from now, it is traditionally time to turn over the thawing soil in the greenhouses and plant the first of the spring greens. I think we may be still skating on thin ice by then and putting off the growing season for a week or two. We’ll just have to see what Nature has in store for us next…

Hot Enough For You?

(Photo: Australian Bureau of Meteorology/)

As reported by http://www.voanews.com/

January 16, 2014

More Severe Heat Waves to Come as Australia Sizzles

by Phil Mercer

Heat waves in Australia are becoming more common and severe, according to a report released on Thursday by the nation's Climate Council. The independent non-profit organization insists that extreme weather patterns can be attributed to climate change. The report comes as southern Australia braces for more punishing heat and emergency crews battle dozens of bushfires.
 
Temperatures in the southern city of Adelaide have been near 46 degrees Celsius, while Melbourne is on track to record its second-longest heat wave since the 1830s. Strong winds are likely to increase the bushfire danger later this week in South Australia and Victoria, where more than 1,000 fires have been reported. Some 40 are currently burning out of control.
 
The Climate Council said that periods of intense heat in Australia are becoming more frequent, hotter and are lasting longer. The council predicts that such heat waves will become increasingly severe in the future. Researchers blame climate change, and believe that the burning of fossil fuels is trapping more heat in the lower atmosphere.

​​Professor Will Steffen, one of the authors of the Climate Council report, said events spanning many years were studied.
 

“We are putting together [data] over many decades to look at longer term trends rather than individual events. It is when you do that that you start seeing those trends of longer heat waves, more frequent heat waves, hotter heat waves, and they are actually starting earlier in the season and this shows you that the basic fundamental characteristics of heat waves are indeed changing towards conditions that are worse in terms of human health and well-being,” said Steffen.  
 
Health authorities in Australia have warned that extreme heat can kill. In February 2009, 173 people were killed when bushfires tore across the state of Victoria in what was known as the Black Saturday bushfire disaster.

​​In South Australia, dozens of people have been treated for heat-related illnesses and more ambulance crews have been put on duty; the number of patients is expected to rise later in the week.

Bill Griggs, from the Royal Adelaide Hospital, said the heat can cause a variety of medical issues or exacerbate existing ones.

“The commonest things are actually the deterioration in existing medical conditions, they can be affected by a degree of heat stress, but you get other simple things ranging from heat rash or prickly heat, some people get cramps, some can become dizzy and faint. But it's when you get more affected and run the risk of heat exhaustion or heat stroke,” said Griggs.
 
​​The extreme heat has also affected the world of sport, forcing matches at the Australian Open in Melbourne to be suspended. The punishing conditions are expected to continue into Friday, while a cool change is forecast over the weekend.
​​
Scientists said that 2013 was Australia’s hottest year on record. In many parts of the country, 2014 has started in a similar fashion.

Cold Enough For You?

http://weknowmemes.com/2014/01/17-pictures-that-prove-just-how-cold-the-deep-freeze-polar-vortex-actually-is/

Cold enough for you? This is the familiar ironic, rhetorical question asked at this time of year. This January - after an ice-storm followed by frigid temperatures - it is particularly keenly pondered. These days, it is often accompanied by a dismissive “Global warming, huh?” Sure, it’s cold here -  it is winter, after all -  but this doesn’t mean that a global warming trend isn’t happening. Yes, extreme weather is upon us. But one cold weather system does not constitute a climate trend, and nor does even one cold winter. We joke about it being the new normal, but it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t, or can’t, do anything about it. Powerful hurricanes, typhoons, ice-storms, snow-storms, wind-storms, avalanches, droughts, floods, heat-waves are all throwing us off our complacent stride. And yes, sea levels are rising, yes, the polar icecaps and mountain glaciers are melting. Is this a conspiracy on the part of governments and the overwhelming majority of scientists is collusion with the mainstream media (as I have always been perplexed to hear from the more opinionated in alternative media)? In this case, I think not. Climate change is everywhere, except in the small world and closed mind of career contrarians.

I have been captivated watching a documentary series on TV called I Have Seen the Earth Change.  Now heading into its second season, it documents the changes in the lives of people who work the land and sea in now twenty countries around the world. These people in diverse landscapes are having to deal with the brutal reality of climate change as it already affects their daily lives. From Bolivia, to Australia, Canada, United States, Norway, Netherlands, Germany, France, Spain, Greece, Brazil, Namibia, Mali, Egypt, Jordan, Oman, Nepal, Mongolia, Vietnam to Japan, the story is the same. Program notes state: “Climate change is forcing farmers, livestock breeders, fishermen, foresters, hunters and others to adapt, and adapt fast. These are the people on the front line who are in daily contact with nature and who depend on it for their living. They face a formidable fight, but mankind’s capacity for adaptation shows there is still hope.”

Smallholders tell how the rains do not come as they used to; how there is not enough water to irrigate their crops as they once did; how the seasons have shifted; how they have to adapt what they grow to more frequent droughts. Small-scale farmers know. They can smell the change in the air, feel it in their bones, see it in their crops, and sense it in the changing ecosystem in microcosm that makes up their farm. I am one of these farmers. We are fortunate in our somewhat temperate climate; we are used to a mixed bag of weather, cast seemingly like a roll of the dice each year. But there is a pattern. We have generally been seeing less snow and more ice and freezing rain, more thunderstorms and fluctuating levels of rainfall. And hotter summers most years. We have had to water more than before, placing stress on our well. Water tables in southern Ontario have suffered under droughts and dry spells. We are mildly inconvenienced, but in some countries, whole villages are forced to relocate, farmers are forced to give up on the crops they have traditionally grown, and displacement as refugees is a new fact of life, just as wars shook up people’s lives in the past.

If we cannot get the big boys with their toys to stop deforestation, dirty oil extraction, toxic pollution, chemical mono-culture of farmland, burning of fossil fuels creating greenhouse gases, all on a mammoth scale, with scant regard for the natural environment or the health of the populace at large, we must at the very least as small communities feather our own nest by growing and eating healthy local food, conserving resources wisely, adapting to renewable energies, setting aside for a rainy (or blisteringly hot) day, and minimizing waste.

Winter Hours Spent Delving

Recent screenshot from my Pinterest page, www.pinterest.com/peterfinch/

I have spent quite some hours recently - through the bone-chilling weather outside, toasty by the wood-stove inside - delving into some themes that fascinate and inspire me. The media by which I have made these explorations are two-fold: books in print and Pinterest. That may sound like going from the sublime to the ridiculous, but both channels have been highly rewarding.

In books, I have been taking in There is a Season by Patrick Lane, The Old Ways by Robert Macfarlane, The Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King, Secrets of the Soil by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird, Grass, The Forgiveness of Nature by Charles Walters, The Real Crash by Peter D. Schiff, The Farm as Ecosystem by Jerry Brunetti, Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver, earth works by Scott Russell Sanders, An Epidemic of Absence by Moises Velasquez-Manoff. I have been thoroughly captivated by them all.

On Pinterest, I have developed several boards of interest - Magical Places, Magical Foods, Magical Plants, Health Naturally, Art & Sculpture, Home is Where the Heart is, Green Heroes. I like the format of Pinterest; it draws the viewer in via the image, following up by opening worlds of words, detailed analysis and so deeper meaning through web links.

You can find boards from my Pinterest page that are pertinent to this blog here:

www.pinterest.com/peterfinch/green-heroes/

www.pinterest.com/peterfinch/magical-plants/

www.pinterest.com/peterfinch/health-naturally/

www.pinterest.com/peterfinch/magical-places/

New Year's Bunny

New Year’s Day, and up pops a bunny rabbit to greet us.

The appearance of wild animals has always been a good omen for me of the endurance of life. When Mum died, two deer wandered across the snowy field ; when our grey cat Gato died, a stag deer stood and watched, then scooted off into deep snow; when our black cat Negra died, a cawing raven landed on a tall elm tree, then winged off into a clear blue sky. Whenever deer, foxes, wolves, turkeys, even raccoons and skunks cross the landscape, I feel a frisson of excitement that the wild is right here outside our window. Now, just after the winter solstice, as the days get longer and a new year is upon us, rabbit tracks in the snow lead to a bundle huddled up facing into the sun, sheltered against the cold wind. The thermometer reads minus 20 Celsius out there,  but it is nice and toasty by the wood-fire in our sunny house.

May the New Year bring health and happiness - and occasional encounters with the magnificent wild - to you and yours.