notable disasters of 2012 highlights (in reverse chronological order within each natural hazard,...

28
NOTABLE DISASTERS OF 2012 HIGHLIGHTS (In Reverse Chronological Order Within Each Natural Hazard, Technological Hazard, or Environmental Hazard Category) Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, University of North Carolina, USA

Upload: anna-howard

Post on 13-Dec-2015

219 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: NOTABLE DISASTERS OF 2012 HIGHLIGHTS (In Reverse Chronological Order Within Each Natural Hazard, Technological Hazard, or Environmental Hazard Category)

NOTABLE DISASTERS OF 2012

HIGHLIGHTS(In Reverse Chronological Order

Within Each Natural Hazard, Technological Hazard, or

Environmental Hazard Category)

Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, University of

North Carolina, USA

Page 2: NOTABLE DISASTERS OF 2012 HIGHLIGHTS (In Reverse Chronological Order Within Each Natural Hazard, Technological Hazard, or Environmental Hazard Category)

PART 5:TRASH FROM THE MARCH 2011 JAPANESE TSUNAMI

UNKNOWN CONSEQUENCES

Page 3: NOTABLE DISASTERS OF 2012 HIGHLIGHTS (In Reverse Chronological Order Within Each Natural Hazard, Technological Hazard, or Environmental Hazard Category)

1 1/3 YEAR AFTER THE MARCH 11, 2011 EARTHQUAKE-

TSUNAMI DISASTER IN JAPAN

THE PROBLEM CONTINUES TO GROW

Page 4: NOTABLE DISASTERS OF 2012 HIGHLIGHTS (In Reverse Chronological Order Within Each Natural Hazard, Technological Hazard, or Environmental Hazard Category)

The March 11, 2011 tsunami swept as much debris into the ocean in one day as is usually dumped in a year

Page 5: NOTABLE DISASTERS OF 2012 HIGHLIGHTS (In Reverse Chronological Order Within Each Natural Hazard, Technological Hazard, or Environmental Hazard Category)

TSUNAMI TRASH DUMP IN JAPAN: MARCH 11, 2012

Page 6: NOTABLE DISASTERS OF 2012 HIGHLIGHTS (In Reverse Chronological Order Within Each Natural Hazard, Technological Hazard, or Environmental Hazard Category)

TRASH FROM MARCH 11, 2011 JAPANESE TSUNAMI: (US NAVY PHOTO)

Page 7: NOTABLE DISASTERS OF 2012 HIGHLIGHTS (In Reverse Chronological Order Within Each Natural Hazard, Technological Hazard, or Environmental Hazard Category)

WHAT HAPPENED?

• Immediately after the tsunami waves dissipated, heavy items sank to the ocean floor close to shore, - - -

• But, at least 1.5m tons of debris were carried off by currents and began making the 4,500-mile journey across the Pacific

Page 8: NOTABLE DISASTERS OF 2012 HIGHLIGHTS (In Reverse Chronological Order Within Each Natural Hazard, Technological Hazard, or Environmental Hazard Category)

INITIAL PATH OF TSUNAMI TRASH

Page 9: NOTABLE DISASTERS OF 2012 HIGHLIGHTS (In Reverse Chronological Order Within Each Natural Hazard, Technological Hazard, or Environmental Hazard Category)

TSUNAMI DEBRIS REACHING HAWAII

Page 10: NOTABLE DISASTERS OF 2012 HIGHLIGHTS (In Reverse Chronological Order Within Each Natural Hazard, Technological Hazard, or Environmental Hazard Category)

WHAT HAPPENED?

• But, at least 1.5m tons of debris were carried off by currents and began making the 4,500-mile journey across the Pacific

Page 11: NOTABLE DISASTERS OF 2012 HIGHLIGHTS (In Reverse Chronological Order Within Each Natural Hazard, Technological Hazard, or Environmental Hazard Category)

WHAT HAPPENED?

• Within a month after the tsunami, the debris had dispersed and was stretched across 6,666 nautical km (4,000 nautical miles) of the north Pacific.

Page 12: NOTABLE DISASTERS OF 2012 HIGHLIGHTS (In Reverse Chronological Order Within Each Natural Hazard, Technological Hazard, or Environmental Hazard Category)

NATURE OF THE TRASH

• The tsunami trash contains refrigerators, boats, houses, cars, trees, Harley Davidson motorcycles, golf clubs, and many kinds of debris.

• IT MAY also CONTAIN RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS, although not expected to constitute a significant risk.

Page 13: NOTABLE DISASTERS OF 2012 HIGHLIGHTS (In Reverse Chronological Order Within Each Natural Hazard, Technological Hazard, or Environmental Hazard Category)

ONE YEAR LATER

Page 14: NOTABLE DISASTERS OF 2012 HIGHLIGHTS (In Reverse Chronological Order Within Each Natural Hazard, Technological Hazard, or Environmental Hazard Category)

THE PROBLEM

MORE THAN 20 MILLION TONS OF TRASH CREATED

BY THE MARCH 11, 2011 TSUNAMI ARE BEGINNING

TO REACH THE USA

Page 15: NOTABLE DISASTERS OF 2012 HIGHLIGHTS (In Reverse Chronological Order Within Each Natural Hazard, Technological Hazard, or Environmental Hazard Category)

LOCATION OF TRASH: MARCH 11, 2012

• About 3333 km (2,000 miles) south of Japan and 4333 km (2,600 miles) southwest of Cook Inlet, Alaska.

Page 16: NOTABLE DISASTERS OF 2012 HIGHLIGHTS (In Reverse Chronological Order Within Each Natural Hazard, Technological Hazard, or Environmental Hazard Category)

SIZE OF FLOATING TRASH

• More than three times the size of the contiguous United States.

Page 17: NOTABLE DISASTERS OF 2012 HIGHLIGHTS (In Reverse Chronological Order Within Each Natural Hazard, Technological Hazard, or Environmental Hazard Category)

ALTHOUGH RADIATION AND DEAD

BODIES ARE NOT EXPECTED, THE TRASH REPRESENTS A

HUGE ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEM,

FOR WHICH THERE IS LITTLE EXPERIENCE

Page 18: NOTABLE DISASTERS OF 2012 HIGHLIGHTS (In Reverse Chronological Order Within Each Natural Hazard, Technological Hazard, or Environmental Hazard Category)

ESTIMATED TIME OF ARRIVAL

• The floating trash is headed towards the beaches of Hawaii first in April, 2012, and then on to Alaska

• The trash is estimated to reach the Pacific Northwest states in 2014 and head back to the central Pacific

Page 19: NOTABLE DISASTERS OF 2012 HIGHLIGHTS (In Reverse Chronological Order Within Each Natural Hazard, Technological Hazard, or Environmental Hazard Category)

INITIAL CONSIDERATIONS

THE USA IS NOT PREPARED TO DEAL WITH THIS PROBLEM

Page 20: NOTABLE DISASTERS OF 2012 HIGHLIGHTS (In Reverse Chronological Order Within Each Natural Hazard, Technological Hazard, or Environmental Hazard Category)

PREDICTIONS OF ARRIVAL

• Most of the debris is predicted to reach various parts of North America (Oregon, Washington, Canada, Alaska) in a trickle, not an avalanche, beginning in July 2012 and continuing into 2014.

Page 21: NOTABLE DISASTERS OF 2012 HIGHLIGHTS (In Reverse Chronological Order Within Each Natural Hazard, Technological Hazard, or Environmental Hazard Category)

A 70 FT FLOATING DOCK REACHES OREGON: JUNE 6

Page 22: NOTABLE DISASTERS OF 2012 HIGHLIGHTS (In Reverse Chronological Order Within Each Natural Hazard, Technological Hazard, or Environmental Hazard Category)

SOME TSUNAMI TRASH REACHES BRITISH COLUMBIA: JULY 12

Page 23: NOTABLE DISASTERS OF 2012 HIGHLIGHTS (In Reverse Chronological Order Within Each Natural Hazard, Technological Hazard, or Environmental Hazard Category)

SOME TSUNAMI TRASH REACHES BRITISH COLUMBIA: JULY 12

Page 24: NOTABLE DISASTERS OF 2012 HIGHLIGHTS (In Reverse Chronological Order Within Each Natural Hazard, Technological Hazard, or Environmental Hazard Category)

MANY SCIENTISTS BELIEVE THE TRASH WILL

EVENTUALLY END UP IN “THE GREAT PACIFIC

GARBAGE PATCH” 1660 KM (1000 MILES) NORTH

OF HAWAII

Page 25: NOTABLE DISASTERS OF 2012 HIGHLIGHTS (In Reverse Chronological Order Within Each Natural Hazard, Technological Hazard, or Environmental Hazard Category)

THE GREAT PACIFIC GARBAGE PATH

• Discovered in 1997

• Contains millions of tons of the world’s trash kept in slow perpetual motion by rotating oceanic currents

• Hundreds of km (miles) across

• A DEAD ZONE FOR MARINE LIFE

• A threat to navigation and ecosystems

Page 26: NOTABLE DISASTERS OF 2012 HIGHLIGHTS (In Reverse Chronological Order Within Each Natural Hazard, Technological Hazard, or Environmental Hazard Category)

No one seems to know how the debris field will affect

fishing, a multi-billion dollar industry in the Pacific

Northwest.

Page 27: NOTABLE DISASTERS OF 2012 HIGHLIGHTS (In Reverse Chronological Order Within Each Natural Hazard, Technological Hazard, or Environmental Hazard Category)

THE TSUNAMI TRASH CHANGES CLEAN-UP PLANS

• 2009’s tentative plans to clean-up and recycle the trash in the Pacific Garbage Patch are on hold now, waiting for the tsunami trash to be added to the mix.

• Intense monitoring is planned to determine the levels of radioactivity in the trash and how they change over time.

Page 28: NOTABLE DISASTERS OF 2012 HIGHLIGHTS (In Reverse Chronological Order Within Each Natural Hazard, Technological Hazard, or Environmental Hazard Category)

No one seems to know how much it will cost to clean up

the Garbage Patch, especially now.