Earth-day 2011.

                               Earth-day 2011.

Every year on earth day, I usually take part in rallies and write several posts about the issue and the need for change.

However, this year, I am somewhat physically and mentally drained, even tiered.

After the March 11 disaster that struck us here in Japan and the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima dai-ichi nuclear power plant, I have not much hope or energy left for another earth-day. In stead the melody of the Doors iconic song “This is the end my friend” is going through my head repeatedly.

I tried to keep my mind sane and clear by planting some tomato, eggplants and many other veggies. Still, It did not help.

I was in my early twenties when Tschernobyl happened and lived right in the centre of Europe then. We went through the milk ban due to radioactive contamination, followed by the mushroom ban and so forth Then we were witnessing children being diagnosed with thyroid cancer this less then a year after the accident. However, in the same year that the Tschernobyl nuclear disaster happened, another followed On the 1^st of November 1986 an explosion occurred in the Sandos Chemical factory in Switzerland, which ended up killing nearly all life in one of the world largest rivers, namely the Rhine, which flows from Switzerland through Germany, France and the Netherlands where its waters enter the Northern Sea. The Sandos accident destroyed over four decades of hard work with some great expenses to clean up the Rhine from pollution and the devastation left behind after WWII. Those two accidents strengthened my dedication to protect the environment and all life on earth. The polluters may be responsible to clean up their pollution and to compensate the victims as well. At least in theory they should be hold accountable. Nevertheless, they rarely do pay up and even less end up being hold accountable. Moreover, when they do pay, it is merely a minuscule fraction of the real damage caused to the environment and society. Part of the blame does lay with the consumers and citizen them self that support those industries since they do benefit from them by means of jobs, cheep energy and cheep consumer goods. Until some thing goes terribly wrong such as at the Fukushima Nuclear power plant here in Japan or the BP oil spill in the Golf of Mexico.

Will we ever learn? I am afraid not, most people have a rather short memory and are easily bribed and this with surprisingly very little.

Why bother any longer then? Humanity does not even deserve to prevail especially not when we look at how we behave in Libya or even the U.S.!

However, there is such a thing as care, empathy, love, compassion and selflessness that some of us human still posses for our children, families, friends, neighbours. And some few even care for plants and insects and this planet, that is why we need to stick around for a little longer to help life on earth to prevail for it is well worth it.

In the so-called dark ages, the environment was mostly revered and respected, even though life was rather harsh for most, then again, living with radioactive poisoning can not be any better then the dark ages. In 1461 for instance, some businessmen that committed fraud where bricked alive into a wall in East Prussia, wile in the thirteen's century a couple of merchants that polluted the local river in Southern Germany where stoned to death and their families where disowned and forced into exile. Nowadays we are civilised, letting those that commit fraud receive a bonus and those that pollute our waters, our air, our soils and our sea with crude oil, radioactive substances or even toxic chemicals, receive public money to clean up their mess. We let them increase their profits and wealth; still not holding them accountable for leaving countless people and wild live to endure a slow and painful death.

It leaves us to wonder whether we have evolved into civilised and intelligent beings or merely ended up being brain washed in believing so and become uneducated with all the education we received or should we say indoctrination we underwent, leaving us to become irresponsible, maybe even criminal and insane.

Would we be able to bring a person that lived some two thousand years ago into our polluted and mad world, that person would call us mad and uncivilised, even careless. He would want to go back to his time in a split of a second.

We need to change course as a society for the sake of our descendants and their own ability to be able and allowed to live on this planet. 

Sakura.

By Uwe Paschen.

It is spring now, Sakura season, wherever you go you will see cherry trees in full bloom. The Sakura tree is an important symbol here in Japan; it is not only one of the first trees to come to live in spring. Moreover, it is also one of the most beautiful and its flowers are some of the most fragile as well.

It has been symbolising life, its beauty and its fragility and maybe even our brief time here on earth.

Japan has certainly known its fair share of disasters over the course of its 1500-years of history as a nation.

However, this latest triple disaster may very well top them all. Not only have we been hit with the strongest earthquake in recorded seismological Japanese history, we also where struck by one of the mightiest Tsunamis this country as ever seen and as if all this was still not enough we ended up with what may become the world worth nuclear disaster so far as well.

I live about 160 Km South from that nuclear plant where the prefectures of Ibaraki and Chiba share a boarder. We are less then 30 Km from the coast of what once was a beautiful rural area with much history an some of the most beautiful shrines, rice fields, sweet potato fields and vegetable fields as well as dairy animals and several once striving fishery villages.

We where fortunate though, since the tsunami waves where only four to six metre high along our coast line. Where as further north those waves reached in one village up to 23 metres in hight. In addition, in many other areas along the coast in the prefectures of Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi and Aomori, those waves reached on average over ten metres in hight, taking with them every thing, even steel reinforced buildings, which surprised most engineers here.

Our farmhouse is still standing. However, it is no longer structurally sound and has to be torn down as so many buildings will have to be in our area due to the damage that these last earthquakes have caused to them.

The demolition of our house has been estimated at one million Yen or more ($ 13,000.00). Building a new house will cost at least six million Yen ($78,000.00). Our house was not insured, since earthquake insurance insure only brand new houses and this for a premium that is not affordable anyhow.

Even if we had insurance it would take at least a year before the old building could be torn down due to the massive devastation that was caused through out Northern Japan and that left many homeless and took the lives of over 28000 people and maybe even more.

Even though those expenses may very well bankrupt us and force us to give up, since property values for farm land and houses as well as apartments went down to next to zero due to these disasters and the radioactivity that we received on top of it all, we are still fortunate. Many are far worth off, lost far more in machinery and buildings, and especially loved ones.

It is hard to focus even work and yet I keep my self busy at all times, cleaning up our mess and trying to help others far worth off as much as I can.

Whenever I stop to think about it all, I wonder why I am still alive and survived so many disasters through out my life wile so many good people have died.

I am some what furious at all the talk by stock holders and politicians as well as the nuclear industry, proclaiming that nuclear energy is still safe, and that radiation is some what still okay, when in fact it is not. None of those executives, stockholders or politician dare to put a foot into the contaminated area or volunteer their golf time with friends to help the countless refugees. Many people will end up dying due to this radiation and many more will get sick from it, all just so some few can make a profit at the expense of the masses and those masses end up paying for these accident on top of it. 

They proclaim that we need nuclear energy to fight CO2, which is nonsense, since the CO2 generated to extract the uranium ship it, refine it and to build those nuclear power plants does by far exceed any other forms of energy production (Other then Coal and Oil of course) especially from renewable energies sources. The production of solar panels and wind mils and so forth, does generate CO2 as well but nothing compared to the construction of a Nuclear power plant, especially not if we compare those to their real operation life and their KiloWatt produced. Those renewable energies do also come with out a death threat attached to them since they just break down or stop working after a major earthquake or tsunami, they do not end up becoming a death trap them self such as nuclear power or other fossil fuel tend to do, See the Golf of Mexico’s oil disaster. It is grand time we start to wake up and face facts.

We could save a lot of energy by simply using energy efficient machines and appliances as well as by stoping to waste so much. The proof lays in Japans current disaster, people voluntarily save energy in order to avoid black outs and it works with out impacting too much on the comfort level of the city dwellers. We do not need all the streetlights to be on, nor all the billboards or five lights on in every room even though there is not one person around. We can do well with less heat in the winter since most places are way to hot anyhow and we can also do with much less air-conditioning in the summer, after all, most of us freeze when ever we enter an air-conditioned building in the summer. We can do with out nuclear power there for. It is simply not worth the risks it generates. The same would apply to all other fossil fuels.

The government keeps on promising that it will compensate the losses encountered due to this nuclear accident, wile this may sound noble at first glace, it is merely politics, permitting crowd control. It will be financially impossible for any government to compensated the magnitude of those loses in business and lives. Nor should the government have to do so, since it is the tax payer that will end up paying for all this wile the industry that caused it will get off with a bonus, making some few much richer in the process wile the masses lose their basics to survive.

Every year the Sakura trees give us much joy in the spring with their beauty. However, this year they remind us of the fragility of our lives as humans and that of our environment more so then ever before.

Changing misfortune into fortune for Japan.

Japan has been severely crippled, this not only by a devastating earthquake followed by a tsunami and a nuclear disaster that is still ongoing. Moreover, it is now losing countless customers through out Japan and the world. Its industry has been severely damaged and in part even destroyed to the point that it will never be able to recover its loses or regain lost customers. Rebuilding will take two years at least, by then it will be next to impossible to retake once former position.

Even if the factories are rebuild and back in operation with in a year, the power supply to run those factories wont be back up by then, especially not if we rely on nuclear power and want to rebuild new nuclear power station risking yet another disaster down the road.

There is an alternative though. If we where to implement a national restructuring plan we could rebuild Japan and end up using this disaster to our advantage by revolutionizing the socio-political and energy make up of this country.

“Two roads diverge in a wood and I took the one less travelled by. And that has made all the difference.”

                                                                                                                                 Robert Frost.

What does the world need most and that every one seeks? It is not cars, nor computers or fish. The world needs power, in form of energy to power its cars, computers, lights and machines as well as its hospitals and food processing plants.

Japan has no oil, uranium, or gas but it does have know how and it is an Island state that is blessed with massive energies such as solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, biomass, a moderate climate and much more. Giving it the potential to become energy self sufficient with in two years.

This would allow Japan to strive again and emerge from the ashes as an energy self sufficient nation and to export its technology as well as it energy revolution. Not only would Japan become the leader in this sector, furthermore, it would be solving many environmental and health related problem at the same time, all the wile saving trillions of Yen in the long run and allowing Japan to witness an international comeback exceeding it growth of the 1960 by several times and maybe even surpassing China anew.

Today Japan is the third largest Industrial power in the World and yet only the eleventh largest investor into renewable energies, relying far more on fossil fuels such as oil, propane and uranium than its main competitors.

This will cost Japan dearly in the long run and cause it to lose its competitiveness with in the next decade leaving it domed to a continual industrial and global decline.

Turning misfortune into a blessing is the gift of great leaders and visionaries. Japan could achieve such massive transition and end up coming out of all this a winner.

One only needs to look at the geopolitical turmoil we are faced with as well as our environmental debacle and the ongoing global climate changes that all still need to be solved to see that there is a great opportunity here amidst all the devastation that surrounds us.

Mathematically and physically we can change the country with in two year from fossil fuels to renewable energies, giving the expertise, know how and skilled labour force that Japan has, makes this  very feasible. There are only few nations that could pull this off nowadays and Japan is certainly the best suited to achieve this, giving its past history and achievements, I cannot think of a better candidate.

The possibilities are endless and the options as well, energy could become the focus for this nation, rather then cars or gadgets. This energy could also be exported in form of Hydrogen gained through electrolysis or the development of new batteries to store energy more efficiently and more effectively.

Furthermore, renewable energies would be far more compatible with Japans culture, main religion and history then fossil fuels could ever be; Fossil fuels danger, pollution and impact are overall negative, especially when we look at the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant.

The long term success of a society, its industry and energy uses depend on its ability to balance the social sector with its environment and its economy, all the wile insuring that the three remain viable, bearable and equitable to one another or they wont be sustainable and if they are not sustainable then the system will inevitably collapse. This collapse is already well underway in most industrial nations today.

The future is now, tomorrow will be to late.

Dealing with an ongoing crisis.

It has been eighteen days since the triple disaster here in Japan.

Dealing with the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami would be by far enough on their own. However, the crippled Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant only adds to the grief and stress for all and makes relief efforts all the more difficult for the victims of this disaster as well as for the aid workers. Our main house will have to be torn down, due to the damage caused by the earthquake, it is no longer safe to be lived in and be on repair now. Saving the building would exceed the cost of building a new house by several million yen. The recent events force us to tear down the old buildings as soon as possible. Never the less, we are still very fortunate since we did not lose any one in our family nor have we lost our property (land) or car in the earthquake, just a lot of material damage so far. Why it is important for us to focus on helping those that lost loved ones and their livelihood before worrying about rebuilding our own place.

After, I saw the extend of the damage in the Prefectures of Chiba, Ibaraki and Fukushima for my self, it was far be on what one could imagine to be possible, no TV nor any pictures can possible show the extend of this disaster or the conditions in which the people find them self in now, especially the smell in some areas is gruesome. The worth may very well be the still out of control nuclear power plant, that leaks massive amount of radiation and contaminates our food and ground water be on safe levels. I urge the government and all aid organisations to focus on the children and pregnant woman first and to get them out of the most affected areas now, and keep them out until this problem is under control after which they may all return once the radiation are below a safe level. We need to find foster homes and convince people to adopt those children that find them self orphaned due to this earthquake and tsunami. We also need to educate people to overcome their cultural or traditional barriers, so that those children do not find them self extradited or isolated for being orphaned and for having been exposed to radioactive contaminations, as it was the case for the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

I saw people refusing to drive much needed fuel or food to Fukushima because they where afraid of radiation, even though I can understand the fear, we need to be rational and help those we can. It saddens me to see such lack of empathy, compassion and solidarity by so many in this crisis.

Even though, I have to command the Japanese overall, would this have happen in the US or France, we would have riots by now and more people would have been killed due to civil unrest then by the disaster it self.

Still, we need to do much more and help where ever we can and when ever we can. As of today, we have 10,901 confirmed dead and still 17,840 missing. On top of that, many are now dying due to lack of heat, medication and due to excessive stress.

This is mainly why I resigned my position in Narita. I will now work mainly in Ibaraki, Fukushima and Chiba so I may be able to better help those most affected and I hope that we will be able to convince people to take in children, especially those that are now orphaned so they may have some kind of normality again.

These times demand to be open minded and they demand solidarity from all. There is no room left for selfishness or self-pity.

The worth part in all this, is the lack of understanding of the gravity of this nuclear accident by some of the companies and entrepreneurs that are already engaged in talks to build nine more nuclear power plant around Japan. Not one of those politician, entrepreneurs or stockholders has set foot on the site of the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, nor will they ever do so. Their houses are far enough from those plants so that they may not have to worry too much.

In a country such as Japan, with countless hot springs and volcanoes it is inconceivable why we do not have geothermal energy plants making full use of the gifts that nature gave us.

Such as is the case in Iceland, where the high concentration of volcanoes in the area is used as an advantage in the generation of geothermal energy, the heating and production of electricity. During winter, pavements near these areas (such as Reykjavík and Akureyri) are heated up.

Five major geothermal power plants exist in Iceland, which produce approximately 24% (2008) of the nation's energy. In addition, geothermal heating meets the heating and hot water requirements of approximately 87% of all buildings in Iceland. Apart from geothermal energy, 75.4% of the nation’s electricity was generated by hydropower, and only 0.1% from fossil fuels. Consumption of primary geothermal energy in 2004 was 79.7 petajoules (PJ), approximately 53.4% of the total national consumption of primary energy, 149.1 PJ. The corresponding share for hydropower was 17.2%, petroleum was 26.3%, and coal was 3%. Plans are underway to turn Iceland into a 100% fossil-fuel-free nation in the near future. 

Japan could certainly match Iceland its power production with geothermal energy and achieve the same goals as Iceland strives to by generating 100% of its energy production with renewable energies giving its location and geological configurations.

This sort of proposal is not new either here in Japan, since several experts over the past decade have wondered why Japan is persisting in using nuclear energy and other fossil fuels when it has such an abundance of natural geothermal energy just waiting to be used.
Wake up Japan!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/3345616/Harness-volcano-power-energy-experts-say.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_science

http://thinkgeoenergy.com/archives/4823

What is what, as far as radiation is concerned.

Danger level	Radiation dose	Effect
SOURCE: WORLD NUCLEAR ASSOCIATION
	2 millisieverts per year (mSv/yr)	Typical background radiation experienced by everyone (average 1.5 mSv in Australia, 3 mSv in North America)
	9 mSv/yr	Exposure by airline crew flying New York-Tokyo polar route
	20 mSv/yr	Current limit (averaged) for nuclear industry employees
	50 mSv/yr	Former routine limit for nuclear industry employees. It is also the dose rate which arises from natural background levels in several places in Iran, India and Europe
	100 mSv/yr	Lowest level at which any increase in cancer is clearly evident.
	350 mSv/lifetime	Criterion for relocating people after Chernobyl accident
	400 mSv/hr	The level recorded at the Japanese nuclear site, 15 March
	1,000 mSv single dose	Causes (temporary) radiation sickness such as nausea and decreased white blood cell count, but not death. Above this, severity of illness increases with dose
	5,000 mSv single dose	Would kill about half those receiving it within a month

Japan is fighting to survive.

It has been five days since the massive earthquake of a magnitude of 9.0 on the RS or 7 on the Japanese scale that struck us here in Japan. Since then many smaller aftershocks where felt some of which where strong enough by them self.
Their epicentre is changing even though most after shocks are still coming from the original epicentre many strong aftershocks are now being emitted in the kanto Chiba area.
This is viewed by some of the experts as a sign that we may witness another major earthquake such as the 1923 earthquake that devastated Tokyo.
However, this does not seem to be the main worry for most here at the moment, since we are already dealing with food shortages and gas stations are still out of gas leaving many stranded.
Furthermore, it is still winter and even for those that still have a house or apartment to call their own, it is difficult to stay warm when there is no gas or fuel available any longer and when electricity is scarce as well. Especially in the rural areas where outages are more frequent then they are in the larger cities.
We just got electricity back three days ago in our area and this only for a couple of hours every day. Many areas do not even have a few hours of power though.
Rice is still around, but it is impossible to buy bread milk or other foods we once took for granted. Still, even when one has rice, it can be difficult to cook this with out stoves, fuel, or electricity.
Most are living on the edge of what they can handle, especially emotionally. The main fear is our nuclear power plant that seems to become a hopeless cause, the news from that one seems to get worth by the day, to the point that the Prime Minister made an announcement, advising all to remain indoors and to avoid outside air or rain in order to minimise radiation exposure. The government handed out Potash Iodine pills to those closest to the nuclear power plant, trying to combat the negative effects of radiation poisoning. It shows the helplessness of government and experts who try to keep all calm and want to avoid to create panic which may make things even worth.
But all know here that this may end up getting a lot worth then the initial earthquake and tsunami where. Still, even though nervous and stressed most try their out-most to remain calm and serene in order to keep the children hopeful and ease their fears.
For the past two day all the school could give their students for lunch was some pudding and a piece of processed cheese with a  200 ml carton of milk. Food has to be rationed now and many get nothing more then a small boll of rice with some bouillon to warm them up.
The things we where all so accustomed to, now seem to be a thing of the past and many are realising that things will never be the way they where before the earthquake of March 11 of this year.
News came that the government can no longer control the nuclear power station and that they will abandon it now, still poring water on it in hope to reduce the radiation some what.
A  colleague approached me today, asking if we will still be around next week, I was some what cough of guard and just said "If not, we shall meet again in the next life and remember this one, so we may learn from our mistakes, if there is a next life that is."
The kids and teens are getting restless and some have trouble dealing with the situation at hand, which is comprehensible.
Still, I do admire the Japanese serenity which most maintain no matter the severity of the situation or the devastation they have to deal with.
I suppose all the drills and disciplinary lessons as well as the moral education every Japanese receives through out their school education and even in university do pay off in such a crisis.
So what next? No one knows for certain, but we expect the radiation to rise and we may have to face another important earthquake with in the next few days.
Many foreigners are on their way out since their respective Embassies have started to evacuate their expatriates from Japan.
Even though the Japanese understand and are sympathetic, it certainly does not comfort those that are stuck here.
I believe for my part that running is useless and that we have to do our best to help each other in this crisis what ever may be. This is especially important for those that have already lost everything and find them self totally helpless in this disaster.
All hope that they wont be another explosion at the nuclear power plant and that we wont have to deal with another Chernobyl. Still, we will have to deal with the radiation and the closer one lives to the plant the worth they will be off. Why people should be evacuated as far away from the plant as possible and the radius needs to be extended to at least a 100 km, this however, will be difficult to accomplish in light of the devastation the earthquake has caused and the lack of gasoline we have as well as the restricted electricity, all this makes the transportation of large numbers of people even more difficult then it would be if all infrastructures where operational and even if we would not face a shortage of fuel or electricity we would have a hard time evacuating people far enough from the power plant to be considered safe.
All know the reality of the situation and know that they wont be able to get out, nor avoid what ever may happen. In stead they all face their faith as they have been thought to do, with honour and serenity. One can sense the fear and worries in many, still they smile and remain polite and courteous. Some thing to learn from.
Wile I wrote the previous paragraph, another more serious earthquake hits us, with a magnitude of 6 on the RS.
 or 5 lower on the Japanese scale.
The radio is on all day and every one hopes to hear some good news and maybe some good news will come after all. In the mean time the announcements about the radioactivity have changed from Micro-severs to mili-severs, it does sound some how better even if it ends up being higher in reality, maybe most wont notice that the 1000 micro-severs the government talked about on Saturday are now 1000 mili-severs of radiation emitted. It is all in the way it is presented, a 1000 ml sounds more or worth then 10 litres of poison.

The Japanese Farm ministry will raise the wheat price by 18% in April of this year

The Japanese government will raise the price for five major brands of imported wheat to be resold to flour milling companies by an average of 18 percent, starting in April due to rising wheat prices on the international market, so it announced last Wednesday. The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry said the planned action will bring the average price to 56,710 Yen ($620.00)per ton, which could translate into higher retail prices for bread and other wheat products. The average prices for basic food items in Japan are already one of the highest as is, making this latest price increase challenging for consumers through out the country.

In the U.S. for instance a loaf of bread cost around 130 Yen($1.60), where as in Japan that same loaf of bread does cost 360 Yen($4.10). The price difference between Japan and other Industrialized countries can vary to an even greater amount depending on the product. Apples for instance will cost per unit an average of 130 Yen ($1.40) Where as the same apple will cost only 32 Yen ($0.45) in the U.S.. Japan is overall one of the most expensive countries, even Japanese made products are far cheaper to purchase in North America or Europe then they are here in Japan. Still the difference in the price of food items can be dramatic at times.

Japan's food self-sufficiency ratio is the lowest of all advanced nations.
Australia is 237%, Canada 145%, USA 128%, France 122%, Germany 84%, England 70%, Italy 62%, Switzerland 49%, South Korea 47%, Japan 39%.
With one exception, being rice, for which Japan’s self-sufficiency is 100% and yet, even this segment of the Japanese agricultural sector is on  the brink of collapse, in large part due to an ageing rural population with an average of 65 years of age for farmers and with no one to take over those farms. Japan depends on imports for the majority of its food intake. This certainly not because of its climate nor its rich top soils, since Japan's climate and soils are most favorable for agricultural production that could easily make Japan a food exporting country and feed all it own people at the same time.

The trouble is that the Japanese policy makers have not only neglected the agricultural sector but more over they have sabotaged it in order to force the rural population to work in factories such as Toyota, this mainly to avoid having to allow massive immigration in of a foreign labor force to maintain and expand the export boom of the 1960^th and 70^th that Japan witnessed. Even today the driving force for reforms and changes such as allowing free trade as well as immigration into the country after opposing such so fiercely for decades is changing in part due to an aging population and an almost extinct rural population caused earlier by an exodus in favor of Japans heavy industry.

Rather then reviving its agriculture and insuring that Japan will be able to feed its own people and maybe even be able to export food through out the world, the government is neglecting the agricultural sector even further, promoting instead the revival of its industry and building factories in India and the US to insure its marked shares there. All the wile creating not only more unemployment at home and increasing the national deficit but also putting into jeopardy an aging population that needs to be taken care of.

The most important sector in this day an age of global unrest, food insecurity and climate changes is certainly not the profit margin of Toyota nor that of some stock holders, but rather insuring and securing the very basics of life, being food, shelter and peoples health.

It is crucial to revive and invest heavily into the agricultural sector again now, since it takes a very long time to get this sector going again as well as  train a new generation of Farmers to produce food efficiently and this with new environmentally sound methods. Certainly Japan is not the  only country to find it self in an agricultural crisis. Germany, Italy and many other countries find them self in a similar dilemma. However, Japan is by far in the worth of positions when it comes to its Agricultural sector. 
We can not afford to take any further risks here, since far to much is at stake as is.