Week 12: Popocatepetl, Mexico Volcano, Spews Ash

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/10/popocatepetl-mexico-volcano_n_1506461.html?ref=natural-disasters

Mexican volcano Popocatepetl spews an ash cloud that suspended flights at the Peubla International Airport southeast of Mexico City on Tuesday and Thursday last week.   The government of the state of Peubla ordered the closing of the airport and said they would review the situation around midday.  Mount Popocatepetl has been on red alert for around a month.  The 5,450 meter volcano lies 80 km from Mexico City.  I think that it's good the government is being so cautious about this volcano.  I'm glad the people in Mexico City are on high alert for the eruption, and hopefully lives can be saved because of their governments planning.  

Week 11: Japan tsunami debris moves towards the U.S and Canada

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/01/tsunami-japan-debris-us-canada

Wreckage from Japans tsunami last year is going to start reaching the shores of North America a lot sooner that originally expected.  This debris is reaching shore a lot sooner than expected.  The lighter things like oil drums and buoys reached the shores in November and December while the rest is expected to arrive by may.  The problem is 95% of the debris will never reach the shore, but get swept up in what is called the North Pacific garbage patch.  I think ships should get sent out to the garbage patch to clean up.  I don't even want to think about how much garbage is floating around in our oceans, but I think we need to do all we can to clean it up.

Cool things found! (not part of blog) : Container with Harley Davidson motorcycle and golf clubs, 160ft fishing boat, and a football found in Alaska which was traced back to its owner.

Week 10: Housing solution for the next natural disaster? House in a box maybe?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/industries/housing-solution-for-the-next-natural-disaster-house-in-a-box-maybe/2012/04/19/gIQATW9mTT_story.html

In New Orleans, the area hit hardest by Hurricane Katrina, has come up with a housing solutions for houses blown away by hurricanes, or hit by tornados. This box house has solar panels on its roof so it can be powered without the regular electric grid. It can be shipped in pieces, and is environmentally friendly. These houses are meant to be shipped in after a disaster then left as permanent housing that can withstand future disasters. I think these houses are a great idea. I think the government should make a project out of them to try and make them readily available for poorer nations that are under the pressures of natural disasters.

Week 9: Mexico hit by two strong earthquakes

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/12/mexico-two-strong-earthquakes

Two earthquakes hit Mexico late Wednesday and early Thursday. The first, a 6.5 hit the western state of Michoacan and the second, a 6.9 hit just off of Baja Calafornia. So far there has been no reports of damage or casualties from either quake and no tsunami warning was issued. These were the fourth quakes in Mexico in the past month and they hit on the same day a 8.9 earthquake hit in Indonesia. I think it was extremely lucky no one was hurt. I also think that Mexico should start to prepare itself for a possible tsunami because the last earthquake was dangerously close to the water.

Week 8: Pakistan avalanche: rescuers recover soldiers' bodies

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/07/pakistan-avalanche-rescuers-search-soldiers

An avalanche in Pakistan buried up 150 Pakistani soldiers in eighty feet of snow. At least thirty soldiers died in the avalanche. The Siachen region is claimed by both Pakistan and India and have thousands of soldiers stationed on the mountain. Usually avalanches don't reach the army base. India and Pakistan have fought two wars over the freezing area in the past sixty years. I think that the two countries need to cease fire and make sure their soldiers are at least safe from more avalanches. I think there's no need for the soldiers to die in an avalanche.

Week 7: Japanese experts warn of earthquakes

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/01/japan-earthquake-tsunami-wave-risk

If another earthquake greater than 9.0 was to happen in Nankai off the Japanese island of Honshu most of the Japanese Pacific Coast would be hit by a tsunami 34 meters tall. In 2003, the maximum height for a tsunami was 20 meters. The nuclear plant damaged last March was built to withstand a 6 meter wave. The Hamoaka nuclear plant is building an 18 meter wall around the plant. This plant was closed last year because there's a 90% chance in the next thirty years an earthquake of magnitude 8.0 would trigger a 21 meter tsunami hitting the plant. I'm glad the Japanese government is doing something to protect their nuclear plants but I'm worried it still isn't enough.

Week 6: Japan mourns tsunami dead; grapples with it's aftermath

http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/03/11/199908.html

Sunday March 11th, moments of silence, prayers, and anti-nuclear rallies marked the one year anniversary of the tsunami in Japan. A magnitude 9.0 earthquake triggered a tsunami killing 16,000, leaving 3,300 missing, 326,000 homeless, and 80,000 evacuees from around the nuclear plant. There is a 20km no-go zone around the nuclear plant but residents of the old town Okuma were allowed back for a few hours to honor the dead. The disaster has triggered discussions about Japan's government and nuclear plants inability to deal with the disaster. I think nuclear plants and governments should have better ways to protect and secure such dangerous health concerns so nothing like Japan ever happens again.