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Natural disasters

Natural disasters

Wild Weather

2011 has been marked by extreme weather. In the U.S. alone, a record dozen disasters caused more than $1 billion in damage. One area acutely threatened by climate change is food production, where decades of steady gains could be reversed.

Speakers are
Chris Field, Director, Department of Global Ecology, Carnegie Institution for Science
Dave Friedberg, Founder & CEO, The Climate Corporation
Karen O'Brien, Professor of Sociology and Human Geography, University of Oslo
Michael Oppenheimer, Professor of Geosciences and International Affairs, Princeton
Greg Dalton is the moderator and Vice President of The Commonwealth Club of California and founder of Climate One
Source: Wild Weather

Dahlia Lithwick

An Analysis of the NDAA

What is in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 that President Obama recently signed into law accompanied by a signing statement? Dahlia Lithwick explains the bill’s contents. She is a contributing editor at Newsweek and a senior editor and legal correspondent at Slate, where she specialized in covering the U.S. Supreme Court and judicial issues.
Source: January 4 - The GOP Candidates and God's Plan; The Backlash Against Putin; An Analysis of What is in the NDAA

Play Program or Download(below the fold)

It's not nice to mess with Mother Nature!

Lester Brown

Life Interrupted from Radio Ecoshock, edited

"The Food Bubble" with Lester Brown
You have seen food prices going up at the local grocery store. That could be just the beginning. According to Lester Brown, a leading expert in both the environment and world agriculture, those bulging supermarket shelves are part of a "food bubble", which could crash.


Matthew England

"The Australian super-floods" with Matthew England
We all saw the awful footage from Queensland Australia. People, cars, houses, indeed whole towns, swept away in fast-moving floods. The area impacted was the size of France and Germany combined. Matthew England explains why this is occurring.
Source: LIFE INTERRUPTED Food, Storms & Escape, January 20, 2011


Michael Boldin

Scott Horton Interviews Michael Boldin

Michael Boldin, founder of the Tenth Amendment Center, discusses Thomas Jefferson’s suggested response to government run amok: nullification. Nullification is a legal theory that a U.S. State has the right to nullify, or invalidate, any federal law which that state has deems unconstitutional. He also comments on the persistence of state medical marijuana laws despite federal government's outrage.
Source: Scott Horton Interviews Michael Boldin, January 22, 2011

Susan Solomon

Global Warming Is Irreversible

Susan Solomon is an atmospheric chemist working for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Time Magazine has named her one of the Top 100 Scientists of 2008.
"People have imagined that if we stopped emitting carbon dioxide that the climate would go back to normal in 100 years or 200 years. What we're showing here is that's not right. It's essentially an irreversible change that will last for more than a thousand years," Solomon says.
Source: Global Warming Is Irreversible, Study Says, by Richard Harris, January 26, 2009

Are the poor the cause the economic crisis? Simon Johnson looks into the causes of the economic meltdown.
Source: Did the Poor Cause the Crisis? By Simon Johnson, 2011-01-19

Music includes Earth Anthem, Just Blue, Sometimes I feel Like a Motherless Child, Star Wars-Theme Song, The Matrix Trailer, unapaloma, Somewhere over the rainbow, We'll Meet Again, Nader remix

Vigil for Japan

Courage Unity / Haiku for the People of Japan

Host: Douglas G.
Location: Capitol steps looking west to Japan
Capitol Mall & 10th St
Sacramento, CA 95814
United States
When: 03/28/2011 4:15 PM-5:30 PM PST

RSVP here: http://us.greenpeace.org

These vigils are simply a time for people to come together, show their support for Japan and imagine a future free of nuclear disasters. And it’s no coincidence that these vigils are planned on March 28th. The date marks the anniversary of our own nuclear disaster at Three Mile Island. So signup for a vigil in your area and be sure to let the host know you are coming by RSVPing.

Japanese PM's order to residents beyond nuclear reactor evacuation zone after blast


Risk of meltdown ... smoke comes out of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Photo: DigitalGlobe

Stay indoors: Japanese PM's order to residents beyond nuclear reactor evacuation zone after blast
Glenda Kwek - March 15, 2011 - 2:57PM
The Sydney Morning Herald

Radiation levels near a quake-stricken nuclear plant are now harmful to human health, Japan's government says after explosions and a fire at the facility.

''There is no doubt that unlike in the past, the figures are the level at which human health can be affected,'' said chief government spokesman Yukio Edano.

Tens of thousands have already been evacuated from a zone within a radius of 20km from the Fukushima No.1 plant, 250 kilometres northeast of Tokyo.

In a live address on national broadcaster NHK, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan also said that people beyond 20 kilometres but up to a 30-kilometre radius from the plant should stay indoors.

Devastating footage of Japanese tsunami