A Last Look at Earth

The Lagoons of Sivash, Ukraine

Sivash, Ukraine. This natural-color image was captured by the Thematic Mapper on NASA’s Landsat 5 satellite  on June 6, 2010. Source: NASA

Yukon Delta, Alaska

The Yukon Delta’s sinuous waterways, which empty into the Bering Sea, was captured by the Earth-observing Landsat satellites  in a 2002. Source: NASA

False-color satellite image of the Yukon Delta, Alaska, USA. acquired on 26 May 2002. Source: NASA

“Stunning” Ice Patterns

Greenland fjords. Image acquired in 2001. Source: NASA

Continued…

Chernobyl: The Day After

Chernobyl Happened Yesterday!

City of Chernobyl had managed to live for 793 years…

Reactor number 4 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded on April 26, 1986 at about 1:00am local time.  The explosion killed at least  four plant employees instantly.

By the time  residents of Pripyat, a town located near the plant, were ordered to evacuate, about two days after the Chernobyl core meltdown had occurred, many had already been exposed to varying doses of radiation poisoning.

Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear power plant underwent a core meltdown [center] in 1986 with disastrous consequences. This image was taken by authorities in the former Soviet Union

The Incident: A meltdown of the reactor’s core in the Chernobyl power plant killed thirty people in 1986. About 135,000 people were evacuated. It is believed that about one hundred times more radiation was released in the accident than by the atom bombs dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

Legacy: More than 4000 cases of thyroid cancer were diagnosed among children and adolescents between 1992 to 2002 in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Victims under 14 years were most severely affected by the elevated concentrations of radioiodine found in milk.

Incidents of skin lesions, respiratory ailments, infertility and birth defects were readily found among the more than five million people who inhabit the affected areas of Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine for many years following the accident.

Disputed Facts: The above facts, however, have been disputed by a number of individuals including the author of a recent WHO report, and the retired “nukophile” British academic, James Lovelack. Local and international experts, however, have dismissed the WHO report findings. A UN report released in 2005 estimated the number of victims at just 4,000. Their figure is hotly disputed  by NGOs and independent experts.

“A report by Alexey Yablokov, Vassily Nesterenko and Alexey Nesterenko which appeared in the Annals of the New York Academy of Science showed that by 2004, there were 985,000 additional deaths worldwide caused by the nuclear disaster, including 212,000 of them within Western Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.”

The Poisoned land. Up to 5 million people continue to live on radioactive contaminated land. About 85% of the children who live in contaminated areas of Belarus today are ill, a near 6-fold increase compared to the time before the explosion (15%), according to The Belarusian National Academy of Sciences.

Chernobyl and Other Nuclear Stats

• More than 95% of the radioactive material (180 metric tons with a radioactivity of about 18 million curies) still remains inside the Chernobyl reactor.
• Immediately after the accident, 237 people suffered from acute radiation sickness, and 31 died within the first 90 days of the disaster.
• About 135,000 people were evacuated from the area surrounding the plant, including 50,000 from the town of Pripyat.
• The Academy’s  estimate for the number of casualties  are more than 90,000 deaths and more than a quarter of a million cancer cases.
• The Ukrainian National Commission for Radiation Protection calculates the number of radiation casualties at half a million  deaths so far.
• Some 436 commercial nuclear power reactors are  operating in 30 countries ( total capacity of 372,000 MWe) each of which is potentially as dangerous as Chernobyl, if not worse.
• An estimated 56 countries operate more than 250 research reactors.
• At least 220 nuclear reactors power military ships and submarines.

Related Links:

• Chernobyl: A Night to Remember!
• All is NOT Well at Chernobyl
• Indian Power Workers Drink Radioactive Water
• Obama Goes Nuclear!
• World’s Worst Polluted Places
• Three Mile Island Cats Have 9 Lives, Too?
• French Nuke Waste Plagues Siberia

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Chernobyl: A Night to Remember!

Image of the Day: Memorial for firefighters who died from the Chernobyl meltdown

A man holds a candle at a memorial dedicated to firefighters who died from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, during a night service in the city of Slavutych, Ukraine April 26, 2009. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich. Image may be subject to copyright.

Related Links:

• All is NOT Well at Chernobyl

Climate Change: A Quickscan

Do You Feel Lucky in 2008?

Ukraine: Worst floods in 100 years

Floods caused by 5 days of nonstop rain kill up to 20 people, mostly children. A senior government official described the floods as the worst in 100 years. More than 20,000 homes have been flooded and 7,000 people evacuated.

Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko (3rd L) visits a settlement affected by floods in the Ivano-Frankivsk region July 27, 2008. Floods described by a senior government official as the worst in a century have killed 13 people in western Ukraine and four in neighboring Romania, officials said on Sunday. REUTERS/Mykhailo Markiv/pool

President Viktor Yushchenko flew to the worst affected area in the Ivano-Frankivsk region after leaving early a service in Kiev marking the 1,020th anniversary of the adoption of Orthodox Christianity in the region. Reuters reported.

Romania

Up to 10,000 people from 200 villages were evacuated as 2,500 houses and 25,000 hectares of farmland were flooded. At least 4 people were killed, including a child who drowned.

“We have two critical situations, on the rivers Siret and Prut,” Romanian Prime Minister said.

“So you understand the gravity of the situation, water levels on the river Prut next to the borders with Ukraine and Moldova are higher than on the Danube.”

New Zealand: Worst weather in 50 years.

g at least three dead and as many as 100,000 homes without electricity. About 10,000 tourists were stranded. [In 2008, New Zealand has thus far experienced the worst deforestation rates,worst snow storms, worst floods, worst drought and worst storms in 50 years.]

South Korea: Worst Floods in 50 Years

Up to 20 people were killed or reported as missing as the fourth day of torrential rains lashed parts of South Korea . In the worst-hit areas of North Gyeongsang province, up to 250 mm of rain
in a 24-hour period caused landslides and flooding forcing people to evacuate their homes.

Kenya

Cholera outbreak has affected eight districts in Nyanza and Western provinces. Over 80% of cholera transmission has been attributed to lack of access to safe drinking/domestic water. About 75% of the water sources are contaminated.

Myanmar

Some three months after Cyclone Nargis struck the country inflicting immense damage, as many as 700,000 children are still in need of assistance. The cyclone destroyed or damaged about 750,000 homes, affected about 2.4 million people and destroyed three quarters of the local health facilities. “In addition, the cyclone struck a severe blow to people’s livelihoods by flooding 600,000 hectares of agricultural land, killing up to 50 per cent of livestock in the affected areas, and destroying fishing boats, food stocks and agricultural implements. According to the report, the damages and losses amount to $4 billion.” UNICEF reported.

Taiwan

Typhoon Fung-Wong with winds up to 147km/h (92 mph) struck the east coast of Taiwan today with heavy rains, forcing schools and businesses to close. In July 18, tropical storm Kalmaegi struck southern Taiwan, which left 20 people killed and 6 missing. “A Central Weather Bureau forecaster was quoted as saying the total rainfall may reach 900mm (35 inches).” BBC reported.