Tsunami and Our Mild Winter

One of the more interesting theories I've seen on what caused our unusually mild winter:

AccuWeather.com - Meteo Madness | Wild Warm Winter Theory, Plus Snow Cover and Storms

Basically, in a nutshell he is saying that the debris field pulled into the Pacific Ocean by Japan's tsunami has actually disrupted the global weather patterns. Hmmmm....

We're All Fu*@ed, Again

Wow, Mother Earth sure has been resilient. First, she had to contend with tons of oil being spilled for months and months, and now her next challenge? Tons of radiation. I am sorry, but something we are doing is just not working. Time to reevaluate. There's only so much abuse a living thing can take.

Company Says Radioactive Water Leak at Japan Plant Is Plugged
Published: April 5, 2011
The company that runs Japan’s crippled nuclear power plant said that it had plugged a crack in a maintenance pit that had been gushing highly radioactive water into the ocean.

Disaster Relief

Here is a pretty comprehensive list I found of ways to help Japan:

Japan Earthquake and Tsunami: How to Help
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published: March 11, 2011
Organizations providing aid and assistance to victims of Friday's earthquake and tsunami in Japan and the Pacific.

We're All Fu*@ed

I'm definitely beginning to think that nuclear power is not the best idea.

WORLD
Second Explosion at Reactor as Technicians Try to Contain Damage
By HIROKO TABUCHI and MATTHEW L. WALD
Published: March 14, 2011
The second explosion on Monday underscored the difficulties Japanese authorities are having in bringing several stricken reactors under control.

The China Syndrome

Reading the news about the potential nuclear catastrophe now looming in Japan reminded me of the following scene from the movie The China Syndrome. In this scene, starting around 2 minutes in, a scientist explains just what "The China Syndrome" is. Obviously I'm no expert, but I assume this is precisely what they are currently desperately trying to prevent from happening in Japan. Keep in mind this is only a movie so the actor's statement about the size of the impact from a nuclear plant meltdown may be an exaggeration.

Earthquake Videos

Just a couple of videos I found that are pretty amazing:



and this one of the skyscrapers swaying is pretty incredible:

Terrible Devastation in Japan

The footage of the tsunami sweeping through northern Japan is some of the most horrifying I have ever seen on TV (I happened to switch CNN on around 1 a.m. and actually watched it all happening live, which made it even more scary.) Let's all say a prayer for the people of Japan and all the other areas impacted by this massive disaster.

Here are some of the more surreal photos of the quake that I found on Twitter. Tokyo Disneyland was one of the landmarks impacted. Everything came to a halt and parts of the park were flooded.