Fukushima Disaster

Fukushima Disaster

March last year, the world has witnessed the second largest nuclear disaster in human history after Chernobyl. Fukushima Nuclear power plants in Japan, was hit by a wave of tsunami followed by an earthquake. This has knocked out the electrical systems and the operation of water pumps crucial to the cooling of the nuclear fuels. Generally speaking, nuclear power, when well-managed, is a viable source of energy at the cost of a very high risk during their lifetime due to the radioactive residue and waste materials after the exhaustion of the fuel rods. Generally plutonium and uranium are used as a fuel sources, and through a process called atomic fission –which is a decomposition of an atom into two different element of smaller atomic mass – these heavy elements become a number of various other elements in unstable state which emits radioactive energy. Besides uranium and plutonium, a number of other elements are being considered for use, such as Fluoride Thorium and Deuterium. Generally most of these fuel metals require enrichment, which is a process to extract atoms that are able to go through nuclear fission.

Sustainability
Besides other concerns such as nuclear proliferation or weaponization of the waste residues (or even the fuel metals), the main issue is that the waste materials can take up to few hundred years to lose its harmful radioactivity, and nuclear power is not considered sustainable –or rather, recyclable. Because Japan has very little resource in regards to fossil fuel, their energy consumption heavily depends on imported petroleum oil. For Japan, nuclear energy must have been the most viable alternative to foreign oil, and hence their high dependency on nuclear power plants for supplying the nation.

Prior Events that ultimately led to disaster
After the nuclear accident, there’s been a lot of investigation as to why such event could have occurred against claims made by Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) and the Japanese Government that nuclear plants are protected from such natural disasters. Studies have revealed that several factors have contributed to the disaster:

• ·       Aging facility with low maintenance
• ·       General neglect on safety precautions against earthquakes and tsunamis
• ·       Inappropriate isolation of power facilities against tsunami and flooding
• ·       Ineffective Government bureaucracy hindering the implementation of preventive measures
• ·       Governments and TEPCO ignoring Safety Study reports suggesting that Fukushima plant is not able to withstand a flooding of more than 5 meters
• ·       Despite nation’s self-claimed world’s top robotics expertise, they had not a single robot to deploy into the accident
• ·       Officials and staffs had excessive confidence in the nation’s “technological infallibility” and the myth of safety
• ·       Importance of saving face, reluctance to send bad news upwards

Japan drew a lot of criticism for their ineffective, inefficient and disorganized effort to contain the disaster. The government and TEPCO had poor communication with each other –not to mention they did poor job at reporting the actual truth and state of the reactors to the public and the international media – but also the issue was aggravated due to cultural tendencies where Japanese people are reluctant to inform bad news to the public or their superiors. The need to save their dignity, and the reluctance to inform the factual bad news have brought the crisis, whereas the risks and preventive methods were very well known as early as 2008 when the safety reports were written. These suggestions were not only present in the report, but were completely ignored by the decision makers.

The Aftermath
It is understandable that Japan is an island nation with no energy resources. Also the renewable energy is expensive to harness given the fact only recently these new alternative technologies for generating energies are becoming available. However, despite the circumstances, the government and the utility company officials have hid the facts and ignored warnings and studies suggesting a critical modification of the plant, not to mention reject IAEA’s suggestions and kept the actual status of the Fukushima plant to the public and the media. Results were catastrophic, not only in terms of casualties and damages done, but in terms of public and international trust and the system on how important decisions are handled. The events that happened during the unfolding of the disaster dates as early as 1991, and 2007 being the most critical year in which TEPCO ignored Tsunami studies warning the risk of tsunami flooding of the Fukushima reactor. It is simply appalling to know these facts, on how much negligence was present up to the moment the tsunami hit the plant.

References

Buzzwords. (2012). What is Nuclear? Retrieved from http://www.whatisnuclear.com/resources/buzzwords.html#enrichment

Fukushima Accident 2011. (3 August, 2012). World Nuclear Association. Retrieved from http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/fukushima_accident_inf129.html

Fukushima Nuclear Accident Update Log. (6 January, 2012). International Atomic Energy Agency. Retrieved from http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/tsunamiupdate01.html

Conflict Diamonds

Among naturally forming gemstones, Diamonds are the most sought after because of their brilliance, transparency and, chemical durability and hardness. Widely used in proposals, wedding bands or other romantic gratification, diamonds are common yet uncommon as it has established itself as the most expensive jewel one can buy. However, the sourcing of such precious gem can be controversial because diamonds naturally command a high price, and where there’s a lot at stake, conflict arises.

This is the case with the so-called ‘Conflict diamonds’, also known as blood diamonds. A famous movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio portrays the sourcing of these diamonds and a facet of the reality at Sierra Leone, Africa during the period of 1992-2001. The story behind the conflict is the following.

Revolutionary United Front

A rebel military force named ‘Revolutionary United Front’, abbreviated as RUF, was formed in late 80’s-early 90’s launched an attack on towns and villages on March 2001 as a part of a long campaign that would last for almost a decade. Their goals were initially political, however many experts believe the motives are rather economical – the control of the rich diamond fields in Sierra Leone. The force was led by Foday Sankoh, a Sierra Leone born with charismatic and enthusiastic character, he impressed a lot of youngsters with radical tendencies or ideologies.

Subsequently, he visits Liberian leader Charles Taylor, male who previously studied in United States and even served the government of Sierra Leone in his time. Charles, after returning from his education, received guerilla training, and after his successful coup against the Liberian government, establishes himself as the most prominent warlord in Africa. Coercing the people to vote for him in the elections, he rules Liberia as president for 7 years.

Because the diamonds from Sierra Leone is very lucrative for either party, Charles decides to support Foday Sankoh and his RUF in an attempt to destabilize Sierra Leone for diamond smuggling and free labor. RUF used various forms to take control of Sierra Leone during their time, and most of the methods used were downright brutal and inhumane. The rebel group would raid villages and capture children for further brainwashing and training as their guerilla warfighter, women would be mass raped while adult males are decapitated, tortured and killed.

Atrocities committed by RUF were uncountable despite their official statement of mission to ‘oppose a corrupt and tribalistic government for the good of people’. Children who lost their family by the raid would be forced to either become a rebel fighter or become sex slaves if they are females. It is devastating how the mere geographical factor of Sierra Leone having diamond fields can bring such severe implications on its citizens. What is more sickening is the fact that there are people who do not hesitate in enslaving fellow human beings for the sake of monetary desires.

Human rights’ infringements still mean nothing in the large, undeveloped parts of South Africa even today. How is it that we have progressed to the point that automated car-size robots could land on planets light years away and yet we manage to overlook a social problem that should have ceased to exist years ago? Although international organizations attempted to aid the civilians and prevent more brutalities by RUF by sanctioning arms and travel embargoes, they were largely ineffective as the violence continued for nearly a decade under the influential ruling of Charles.

Sierra Leone’s Diamonds

The main sources of funds for RUF were the diamonds. Captured adults were enslaved and forced to perform labor of extracting diamonds from rivers, mines and fields, and kept as prisoner for more work later on. These diamonds originating from Sierra Leone were smuggled across the border and sold to fund RUF’s expenses in purchasing food and illegal arms.

The diamond industry, together with United Nations, introduced a scheme of diamond certification to prevent the trade and sales of conflict diamonds originating from Sierra Leone, but the effectiveness of such measure were unclear, as diamonds are only traceable in its rough, unpolished state. Once it is polished and made into a transparent gem, the geographical origin is untraceable. Many diamonds were sold in other countries and there’s no tangible data to identify how many of these were actually from Sierra Leone.

Conclusion

RUF was disbanded as of 2002, however the civil war and violence started by the group still persists even today. It is disconcerting that the political and economical state in Sierra Leone is still in disarray, confusion and in a chaotic situation. To be honest, I was caught by surprise with this revelation at first since diamonds have always been heavily and excessively romanticized in our society. If I did not watch the movie and delve into their research, I would never thought of linking diamonds to human slavery and civil wars in South Africa. After becoming aware of the issues concerning blood diamonds, I pledge to never possess, buy or receive even one of them since demands will always initiate supplies. I want to believe that awareness is something very powerful and that the illegal diamond industry would be unsustainable if more people were exposed to the harsh reality of its origins.

References

Conflict Diamonds. (21 March, 2001). United Nations. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/peace/africa/Diamond.html

The Civil War in Sierra Leone. (n.d.). Afrol News. Retrieved from http://www.afrol.com/News/sil007_civil_war.htm

Sierra Leone. (26 April, 2012). Global Security. Retrieved from http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/sierra_leone.htm

Genetically Modified Food

Genetically Modified Food

As the human population grows dramatically at an unprecedented pace, so is the amount of food we consume around the world. Malthusian Theory predicted that we’re soon going to reach a point where shortage of land for food production will occur, and current food production capacity will fall behind the rate we consume.

Genetically altered or modified food comes in play to alleviate some of these concerns and improve the food production yield. Since we can modify the genes and insert genes from other species to strengthen certain traits of vegetables, Biogenetics have been widely used and applied to create a stronger, easier to farm, resilient species that we consume.

I believe this is generally good, because it reduces the impact we cause on the nature by using less pesticides and herbicides, and having to utilize less land for more productivity, which in turn leads to less deforestation. If we had to use less land, more of nature can be left intact and protected while producing the amount of food we require. According to 2012 World Hunger and Poverty Facts and Statistics, the world actually produces enough food to feed everyone at this moment.

World agriculture produces 17 percent more calories per person today than it did 30 years ago, despite a 70 percent population increase. Due to the current fast-paced development, this is enough to provide everyone in the world with at least 2,720 kilocalories (kcal) per person per day. However, humans will be exhausting the food resources at this rate of development.

Personally I am in favor of GM foods. I believe that we’re in time to provide more to the ones that have less. According to statistics from World Hunger Organization, there are 925 million people who do not have enough intakes of food, and the majority of those people are in either Asia or Africa. It is important to consider the well-being of the people besides our immediate ones, because that is what a prosperous world should strive to be – a world without hunger.

I think GM food can greatly aid the world hunger problem because it allows the production of food ingredients in areas where normally the specie cannot grow. For example, a frost or cold-climate resilient gene can be inserted into a host of vegetables such as tomato, potato, carrots and rice, and then planted in Syberian regions or other cold places where these products are not easily available.

Another thing GM foods can do is to nourish malnourished people with nutrients deficiency. Golden rice for example, contains a gene strain from daffodil plant which gives them high vitamin A content. This method can be used to enhance the nutritional content of a food product to address the nutritional deficiency vastly experienced in third world countries.  

Biogenetics also can be applied to improve the quality of meat products and accelerate growth in animal species. For example, cattle can produce more of prime meat and have a lower affinity towards fat, have smaller bones and more flesh, and be resilient against diseases and cold. They could even be engineered to eat less and grow more from the food they eat. This would vastly reduce the cost to produce meat and reduce the environmental footprints during production.

Wouldn’t it be good to provide African people with famine not only enough food, but highly nutritional food? In that sense, I believe GM foods can bring miracles for the world welfare. Of course there are many concerns regarding gene modifications. There are concerns of cross contamination or some uncertain effects of gene manipulation. But with proper precaution as always, this technology opens up great opportunities and a massive potential to solve our food crisis and population growth. Right now is not the time for us to be nitpicky about the quality of our food, especially not when we have been taking it for granted and wasting so much of the resources we were blessed with.

References

Cafiero, Carlo and Pietro, G. (2011). The FAO indicator of the prevalence of undernourishment. Food and Agriculture Organization. Retrieved from http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/ess/ess_test_folder/Workshops_Events/Food_Security_for_All_FEB2011/Background_paper.pdf

The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2011. (2011). Food and Agriculture Organization. Retrieved from http://www.fao.org/docrep/013/i1683e/i1683e.pdf

2012 World Hunger and Poverty Facts and Statistics. (2012). World Hunger Education Service. Retrieved from http://www.worldhunger.org/articles/Learn/world%20hunger%20facts%202002.htm

Coral Reefs

One of the unique phenomena that occurs in the ocean due to the movement of the earth landmass is the formation of coral reefs. Corals are organisms that grows based on a landmass or a similar hard structure, and can harbor algal symbionts in their tissues. There are favorable conditions for the formation of a coral system, and those are:

• ·         Sea water
• ·         Warm or tropical temperatures
• ·         And ample amount of sunlight

Because of these conditions, coral systems form around the tropical zone of the Earth, and poses as a valuable resource for the marine economy and the marine ecosystem because it becomes the harbor for a vast diversity of fish, algaes and other marine life forms. On economic standpoint, coral reefs are touristic attractions and a source of fishing which can help the local economy. Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is one of the most prominent coral reef popular among tourists and makes immense contribution to local economy by attracting a great number of visitors.

Coral reefs are classified into three; fringing reefs, barrier reefs and atolls.

Fringing reefs are coral systems that develops around the coastline or shoreline, around continents or islands. Examples include the Florida Keys reefs.

Barrier reefs are systems that forms along the outer edges of continental shelves that have submerged, usually separated from the mainland and forms in channels.

Atolls are circular reefs forming around a submerged seamount or volcano, and forms as these islands or volcanoes submerge into the sea, leaving the donut shaped reef to grow taller as the sealevel rises.

Coral reefs are valuable natural habitats, and is equivalent to a rainforest because of its vast biodiversity. Because corals form in a very complex shape and size, a simbiont relationship can be formed between marine animals and plants. These systems are extremely sensitive to water temperature, and recent climb in the oceanic temperature had adverse impacts on reefs around the world, resulting in losses of species, decline in biodiversity in the reefs and a phenomena known as coral bleaching.

Bleaching is a name given when corals expel their symbiotic algae due to elevated water temperature. There was massive coral bleaching during 1997-98 and less than half of those have recovered so far. The increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, fueled by usage of fossil fuels have driven the acidification of the ocean water, resulting in corals being unable to secrete enough calcium carbonate for its growth. There are other concerns, mainly human-driven, such as excessive fishing, harvesting of reef resources and contamination, which are preventing the recovery of coral reefs around the globe.

Biodiversity can be easily affected by human activities and it is even more vulnerable with all the humans inhabiting on the planet. It is important to maintain the balance and set policies to protect natural resources as we drive our economy and prosperity, especially if these resources involves natural habitat for others species because nature has a direct impact on our future survival.

References

Kleypas, J. (July 14, 2012). Coral Reef. The Encyclopedia of Earth. Retrieved from http://www.eoearth.org/article/Coral_reef?topic=49570

Shah, A. (January 11, 2011). Coral Reefs: Ecosystems of Environmental and Human Value. Global Issues. Retrieved from http://www.globalissues.org/article/173/coral-reefs

The Cove

Filmed in Japanese fisherman town, Taiji, during 2009, The Cove investigates and condemns  the hunting of dolphin in the Japanese culture as a documentary film. This documentary is portrayed from the perspective of an ocean conservationist to highlight the drastic numbers of dolphins slaughtered in the Taiji dolphin hunting drive which can amount to approximately 23,000. More specifically, the location where the dolphins are killed is in a cove which is not easily accessible and hidden from the view of public. The climax of the documentary is the actual footage caught by filming in secret, showing the migrating dolphins being herded into a cove, being caught in nets and most importantly, being stabbed multiple times using spears/knives until they are dead. By the time when all the dolphins are lifeless, the seawater around the vicinity of the cove was literally dyed blood red from the slaughtering moments before. The film is biased towards the unnecessary cruelty of the dolphin hunting that is practiced in Japan as expected, which makes it susceptible to criticisms towards their secret filming and unpleasant portrayal of the Japanese. We were prompted to address several issues based on what we understood from the documentary film, such as:

Why is it wrong to kill dolphins and whales?
Anecdotal scenes in the documentary attempted to characterize dolphins as sentient beings which are also capable of emotions, making it morally wrong to regard them as lower creatures. Zoologist Lori Marino from Emory University concluded that dolphins should be given human status because they are more intelligent than chimpanzees, after comparing the size of their brains using MRI scans. The presence of cortex and neocortex enable dolphins to recognize themselves in mirrors, further implying that they are self-aware and have an individual sense of self which, according to ethics expert Dr Thomas White from Loyola Marymount University, is similar to the human mind. Dolphins in captivity or under observation have shown distinct personalities and being able to learn simple symbol-based language, such as body gestures from trainers.

In the case of Flipper, the dolphin under the care of O'Barry, he was suspected to be depressed from being imprisoned and abandoned after filming, leading to its conscious decision of suicide while in the embrace of its trainer. Several witnesses also provided first-hand accounts of being protected or rescued by dolphins in the presence of aggressive sharks. An international team of researchers from Association for the Advancement of Science even went as far as to discuss the "declaration of rights" for these cetaceans (water-dwelling mammals, including porpoises), which includes giving them the same rights to life, liberty and well-being as humans. If dolphins are considered as an individual, deliberate killings will be ethically equivalent to murder of human beings.

Meat procured from dolphins and whales are essentially worthless in terms of nutrition, not to mention potentially harmful for human consumption due to the presence of mercury. Their meat is also rumored to be intentionally mislabeled, which is dishonest in business itself, due to their low values in the market. From a monetary standpoint, the profits from whale and dolphin meat are often marginal and not worth the effort. Since their meat contribute nothing in providing nutrition for human survival or even sustaining the nation's seafood economy, dolphin and whale hunting are obviously an unnecessary and superfluous cruelty.

Dolphins and whales are also considered to be endangered species which should be protected. The uncontrolled and unwarranted slaughter of dolphins and whales by the Japanese should be made liable for prosecution.

Why do the Japanese kill dolphins and whales?
For many whalers and dolphin hunters, these cetaceans are a lucrative source of income since aquariums and dolphinariums offer a hefty sum for these creatures. Even though dolphin meat is considered worthless, a live dolphin can easily fetch $150,000USD, according to SaveJapanDolphins.org. The entertainment industry, such as theme parks or exhibition centers, will send representatives to pick out healthy, young and attractive dolphins before the rest are mercilessly to death. As money is the biggest incentive for humankind, it is not surprising to see the lengths people go through for some quick cash, even at the expense of another creature's suffering.

The Japanese, especially those from Taiji, also rationalize that hunting dolphins and whales is a culture their ancestors passed down from the previous generations. The last moments captured on the footage included leisure conversations between fishermen who discussed about the best methods to kill whales. The context taken from those scenes seems to imply that they do view the killings as 'normal' as enjoying sports. However, this also contradicts the norms of citizens who live in developed cities, with many of them oblivious about the issue of whaling and dolphin hunting. It also appears that whale and dolphin meat are not staple food in Japan, as claimed by the people from Taiji. This contradiction may be due to the dramatization and generalization from the Taiji Japanese to reason their actions. While it may be part of the culture for the people in Taiji, it will be a fallacy of hasty generalization to claim that the whole of Japan hunts whales and dolphins as part of their culture.

Misdirected or misplaced nationalism is also suspected to be one of the reasons for the Taiji fishermen's persistence in killing whales and dolphins. Ever since Japan's defeat in WWII, they have been subjected to numerous intervention in the political and economical sectors while ruling their nation. As expected, war veterans, the older generations from that particular period of time or even conservative Japanese will not take foreign interference very kindly in terms of their social and cultural matters. Since their cultural practices are under their direct control, they will not easily relinquish or change any of them just because of protests from upset environmentalists.

Aggressive Dolphin Behaviour
With these questions answered, I would like to include a second opinion on the issue of dolphin and whale hunting. According to several sources, dolphins were documented to show aggressive behavior, not only towards their own species but towards other species such as humans as well. Dolphins are not simple creatures which are friendly, contrary to popular belief, but also potentially fatal under certain circumstances. Gangs of male bottle-nosed dolphins in the coast of Western Australia were observed by researchers from the University of Massachusetts in Dartmouth, who documented them "harassing and intimidating sexually receptive mature female dolphins". (Connor, R. 1999) In recent sightings, bottle-nosed dolphins are the official suspects for the increase in dead porpoises and even baby dolphin infanticide, both of which sustained fatal internal injuries.

While these findings are not a justification for the unethical killings of dolphins, the purpose is to remind humans to not be presumptuous of dolphins by only one-sided facts. If humans consider them as equals, this will make a dolphin liable and responsible for their every action, including the infliction of pain or even the killing of another creature. Supposing that dolphins have personalities just like humans, it should be taken into account that they are capable of possessing unfavorable human qualities as well.



References

Woollacott, E. (January 4, 2010) Dolphins are people, say scientists. TG Daily. Retrieved from http://www.tgdaily.com/general-sciences-features/45261-dolphins-are-people-say-scientists

Collins, N. (February 21, 2012) Dolphins 'should be recognized as non-human persons'. The Telegraph. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/9093407/Dolphins-should-be-recognised-as-non-human-persons.html

Blundell, N. (January 25, 2008) Killer dolphins baffle marine experts. The Telegraph. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/3323070/Killer-dolphins-baffle-marine-experts.html