The disaster at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has many in the United States worried that a similar incident could happen here. As different alternative energies are being explored, could this disaster push nuclear power off the agenda? Founder of Dancing Ink Productions Rita J. King says while there are challenges with alternative energies, we have not begun a wide spread campaign of how to make this happen but there isn't another option anymore.
Earth Changes
© AP Photo/US Geological Survey
Park firefighters said Monday that the blaze has burned at least 30 hectares since Sunday. They say the lava is from the Kamoamoa eruption.
Park ranger Mardie Lane says the fire is creeping through Ohia forest in an area that has been burned at least twice due to lava flows.
Kilauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes, has been in constant eruption since Jan. 3, 1983.
Firefi ghters plan to fly over the area Tuesday to assess the situation.
The earthquake that hit Japan on Friday last week has provided additional ammunition to environmental activists who are worried that one of Taiwan's nuclear power plants lies within an area known for its underwater volcanoes.
Lee Chao-shing (李昭興), a professor of applied geosciences at National Taiwan Ocean University, said last year that as many as 70 underwater volcanoes are located within an 80km radius of the soon-to-be-operational Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao District (貢寮), New Taipei City (新北市). Up to 11 of those volcanoes are active, Lee said.
Although atomic regulatory officials dismissed the risks, activists said the authorities should take another look in light of the nuclear incidents in Japan. The volcanoes, which have the highest concentration near a nuclear plant in the world, could lead to "a serious disaster" in the event of an earthquake or tsunami on the scale of that that struck Japan last week, Lee said.
Lee Chao-shing (李昭興), a professor of applied geosciences at National Taiwan Ocean University, said last year that as many as 70 underwater volcanoes are located within an 80km radius of the soon-to-be-operational Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao District (貢寮), New Taipei City (新北市). Up to 11 of those volcanoes are active, Lee said.
Although atomic regulatory officials dismissed the risks, activists said the authorities should take another look in light of the nuclear incidents in Japan. The volcanoes, which have the highest concentration near a nuclear plant in the world, could lead to "a serious disaster" in the event of an earthquake or tsunami on the scale of that that struck Japan last week, Lee said.
© Yahoo! UK News
The world is set to experience the biggest full moon for almost two decades when the satellite reaches its closest point to Earth next weekend.
On 19 March, the full moon will appear unusually large in the night sky as it reaches a point in its cycle known as 'lunar perigee'.
Stargazers will be treated to a spectacular view when the moon approaches Earth at a distance of 221,567 miles in its elliptical orbit - the closest it will have passed to our planet since 1992.
The full moon could appear up to 14% bigger and 30% brighter in the sky, especially when it rises on the eastern horizon at sunset or is provided with the right atmospheric conditions.
This phenomenon has reportedly heightened concerns about 'supermoons' being linked to extreme weather events - such as earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis. The last time the moon passed close to the Earth was on 10 January 2005, around the time of the Indonesian earthquake that measured 9.0 on the Richter scale.
The latest issue of Sott.net's new print publication - The Dot Connector Magazine - features an in-depth analysis of the truth about human history, cyclical catastrophes and the edge of the abyss on which we all now sit. If you value your own future and that of your children, this information is of vital importance.
© DigitalGlobe/AFP/Getty Images
The damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan.
The damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan.
Non-essential technicians were evacuated from the facility after radiation levels around the Fukushima No 1 power plant briefly rose four-fold in the wake of the blast, which appears to be the most serious to date.
The plant operators said its reading had reached 8,217 microsieverts per hour - described by broadcaster NHK as equivalent to eight times the radiation a person would usually experience in a year. It later fell sharply, the broadcaster said. The peak was still far below the level which would cause immediate damage to health.
- 42 survivors have been pulled out of the rubble
- Official death toll hits 1,597, but many hundreds believed to be buried under rubble or washed away by waves
- Toll will soar after around 2,000 bodies were found on the shores of Miyagi prefecture
- Second explosion at nuclear power plant
- Number of people contaminated with radiation could reach 160
- Region hit by hundreds of aftershocks, some up to 6.8-magnitude
- Rescue operation begins but some areas still cut off by road damage and flood waters
- 70,000 people evacuated to shelters in Sendai
Around half the town's 18,000 residents are missing but search and rescue teams are still working desperately through the rubble to try and find more people.
Police are also trying to stop people returning to their homes.
Despite the first tsunami warning being issued to the town that lies two miles from the coastline, some residents decided to stay in their homes instead of fleeing - leading to the high number of missing people, CNN reported today..
Most of the houses in Minami Sanriku have been completely flattened and waterlogged and one house was found even with seaweed inside.
© EPA
Villagers carry relief goods in Minami Sanriku, the worst-hit area where almost 10,000 people have gone missing
Villagers carry relief goods in Minami Sanriku, the worst-hit area where almost 10,000 people have gone missing
© EPA
Japanese home guard help survivors to safety in the flooded town of Minami Sanriku
Japanese home guard help survivors to safety in the flooded town of Minami Sanriku
The unusually high number of aftershocks following Japan's strongest ever earthquake last Friday has caused concern among geophysicists that it may actually be a chain of separate quakes.
Michio Hashizume, a Japanese geology expert working with Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Science, said his contemporaries in Japan are wondering if the string of tremors felt around the county since Friday's 9.0-magnitude are actually aftershocks.
"We are questioning if they are really aftershocks, because in theory they should happen close to the epicentre, but this time, [some of] the [following] earthquakes have happened far from the epicentre," Mr Hashizume said.
"We are thinking the 9.0 earthquake may have triggered a chain of earthquakes. If so, we expect more earthquakes, possibly as strong as magnitude 7, within the next three days."
The geologists are concerned about the possibility of another big earthquake soon, which could create another tsunami, he said.
© POSTgraphics
"We are questioning if they are really aftershocks, because in theory they should happen close to the epicentre, but this time, [some of] the [following] earthquakes have happened far from the epicentre," Mr Hashizume said.
"We are thinking the 9.0 earthquake may have triggered a chain of earthquakes. If so, we expect more earthquakes, possibly as strong as magnitude 7, within the next three days."
The geologists are concerned about the possibility of another big earthquake soon, which could create another tsunami, he said.
Tokyo -- The weather agency says a volcano in southern Japan is spewing ash and rock again as the country struggles with the aftermath of a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami in the north.
- Second 'monster' quake could measure almost 8 on the Richter scale
- Terrible tide of at least 2,000 bodies wash up on the coastline
- Crews fight to bring reactor at nuclear power plant under control
- Millions left without food and power and hospitals have no medicine
On Friday, a quake measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale caused widespread fatalities and damage, also triggering a huge wave, which prompted the death toll to spiral into many thousands.
At least 2,000 bodies have now washed up on the country's decimated coastline, crematoriums were overflowing with the dead and rescue workers ran out of body bags as the nation faced the reality of its mounting crisis.
Devastating: A woman sobs on a road as she surveys the destroyed city of Natori in the region of Miyagi in northern Japan
Comment: As it turns out, gravitational tidal forces might not be all there is to this phenomena. According to James McCanney, any celestial alignment (such as a full or new moon) has the potential to cause a current flow in the solar system, thus disrupting the electrical balance of Earth which then leads to extreme weather, earthquakes, volcanoes, etc. For more information, see:
Comet Elenin Update!
The True Origins of Electric Comet Theory
Cyclones, Earthquakes, Volcanoes And Other Electrical Phenomena
Pole Shift? Look to the Skies!