When the ocean glows
The public focus on the ongoing nuclear disaster in Japan seems to be diminishing somewhat with everything else going on in the world competing for our attention. But it's a greater threat to our continued existence than all the bombs in Libya. Via mistermix, this latest radioactive reading is disturbing:
There are days I hope the Mayans are right. We, meaning the human race, don't deserve to live on this planet if we can't take proper care of it.
The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said on Saturday that iodine 131 in excess of 1,250 times regulated standards was found in seawater collected 330 meters south of a plant water outlet at 8:30 AM on Friday.That's up dramatically from 146.9 times regulated standards on Wednesday. But the agency assures us "that as seawater is dispersed by ocean currents the contamination level will decline." But it won't disappear. It will just spread across the oceans and mix in with the spilled oil and toxic dispersants and the enormous islands of molecular plastic waste. There will come a time when future generations won't be able to set foot in the water, much less eat the fish.
There are days I hope the Mayans are right. We, meaning the human race, don't deserve to live on this planet if we can't take proper care of it.
Labels: Corporatocracy, environment
posted by Libby Spencer at 2:04 PM
3 Comments:
I agree with your general idea that the spread of nuclear wastes in the oceans is a huge threat, and not reported enough. However, the Iodine won't be much part of that threat to the wider oceans. While I'd be horrified for the locals, Iodine degrades pretty quickly, losing half the radioactivity every 8 days. One bit of good newss.
Nice to get a comment from someone who knows about half-lives - really.
We're getting a lot of panicked and wildly inaccurate stuff from Hollywood celebrities who are passionately ignorant.
Take Richard Belzer who the the other day had a fit on Bill Maher's show about how childhood cancer was "unknown" until we started spreading nuclear waste in the air and water. Yeah, right.
Just saw this morning that the alarming readings were "inaccurate." Who knows what to believe anymore? But we ARE poisoning the ocean and the air and the ground all over this planet with the refuse of technology. And business is now so profit driven that they would rather take the short term money than invest in innovation that doesn't show an immediate return. I find that troubling.
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