The Accidental Reality

Earlier this morning, CBC Morning broadcasted that an earthquake with a 7.8-8.1 magnitude struck off the northern coast of Japan. Scientists predicted that the earthquake would create a tsunami that would hit Japan's northern islands, and go as far east as Hawaii and Alaska. The CBC reported that the waves could be 1 to 2 metres high. A few hours later, on CBC's website, the waves that hit Japan turned out to be less than half a meter. With the predictions in mind, people on the islands were advised to seek higher ground.

What seems interesting is that with this tsunami and a large reading for an earthquake, the media seemed like it was bracing itself for a repeat of what happened in 2004 when a large tsunami devastated much of south east Asia. Preparation for the possibility of a 2 meter wave can be attributed to scientific instruments in the ocean off the coast of Japan. The CBC said either were not or very few of these in the last tsunami.

It seems that when we prepare ourselves for a huge disaster, it does produce itself in the way we anticipate. We did not anticipate the huge tsunami in 2004 and it caused large amounts of damage. Today, a large earthquake causes a tsunami but because we anticipated it, people survived, and even at that, it was not a devasting tsunami. The worst disasters come when we are not prepared for them: 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, the Tsunami of 2004, the bombings of the transit systems in London and in Spain. Even if we are prepared for the eventual disaster, we will grow comfortable with the new security, only for a new disaster to undermine it.

This news report is fresh for November 10, 2006. A train in California derailed, spilling lots of hazardous materials into a forest. Only one person was killed, one is missing and the rest are suffering minor injuries. Like the last Fox News story, this one focuses more on statistics and data than it does on the human angle. Perhaps Fox News is publishing information that concerns the public who travels on the affected rail line for business or pleasure. The report does discuss how much of the hazardous fuels that were spilled into the forest. It does not give any details as to how or when the spill will be cleaned up. My impression of the article is that it presents the situation as it is, with no analysis or background information.

This Fox News report concerns itself solely with statistical data about teh strom. It discuss how many people died in different areas. What I wonder is why the story is still easily accessed and not archieved. A story that is just under a month old could not have the same importance to be part of the headline package. Is this Fox News' way of making it seem like they're on top of stories by populating their headline package? Is there a fear factor being created by Fox News so that people will turn to the news agency for information and help because of the stats presented? Or does the story's presence go back to the Vietnam war -- as a Republican biased news agency, is it continuing the fight of the Vietnam war that ended 30-40 years ago (ie racism)?

A couple of days ago, a fire engulfed parts of a local farm, killing livestock and burning some of their feed for the winter season. The article says that the farm belonged to a family that immigrated to Canada from Holland. The article seems to focus more on the statistics surrounding the farm - how much the blaze cost the family (1 million dollars), how any cows were saved (200) vs how many were lost, and who spotted the fire (a neighbour). The Free Press obviously decided not to examine the story from the human angle - a family who moved from Hollan 8 years ago who lost a siginificant portion of their farm. Both statistics and compassion sell, although what made the statistics a favourable angle for the story? Perhaps we've become aclimatized to the disaster, and the human story becomes the same and not worth reporting. As discussed in class during the Titanic lecture, in today's world, its the factoids that get people interested more so than the human story. Then again, Titanic is a historical disaster, which doesn't affect us directly.

An airplane in Nigeria crashed the other day. On board the airplane was Nigeria's top Muslim leader, a senator, and the sultan of Sokoto who was head of the National Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs in Nigeria. This incident was a main headline on the CBC main page earlier this afternoon. Ironically, African news does not make the top story too often. Perhaps this crash is of siginficance as it killed several important people in the Nigerian government and leaders of the Islamic faith in the country. Most other incidents or accidents in Africa that may be minor do not make the top story in Canada. What makes this one special in particular?

The BBC published a report on global consumption on October 24th. It claims that if the entire world were to consume goods at the same level as the UK, three planets would be needed to sustain that much consumption. In the report, it said that 31% of terrestial species declined between 1970 and 2003 because the planet could not keep up with the rate of consumption allowing for a natural cycle that replenishes resources. It goes on to say that if humans keep consuming at this level until 2050, humans would be consuming twice as much as the planet could provide. The eventual result would be the collaps of biodiversity.

As apocalyptic as this article may sound, there have been several stories about a large ecological footprint in the past. Scientists and researchers have been letting people know about this problem for years. As I recall, this article prompted Prime Minister Tony Blair to take action on the issue. It seems that it takes dark and dangerous numbers that are real to get attention from the people to act. It seems that these concepts do not seem real to many until they actually materialize as Blair's action has shown. Do ideas and predictions that sound too much like science fiction or a Hollywood movie get brushed to the side and its only when its too late that people decide to act?

CNN published a report outlining that the ice sheet over Greenland is currently melting, but not "as fast as previous research indicated." Al Gore's theory of an Ice Age over Europe (as presented in "An Inconvinient Truth") says that all ice melting will cool down the Gulf Stream, which provides much of the heat over Europe. As the current gets colder, less warm water will flow towards Europe. Gore predicts that if the stream totally shuts down, Europe could be in for another ice age.

If the melting of the Greenland ice sheet doesn't slow down Gulf Stream, it will certainly rise ocean levels that could have negative effects on coastal areas, where people populate. The melting of the ice sheet is commonly attributed to Global Warming. Perhaps the development of industrial technology is the general accident, as it could change climate conditions globally, leading to the end of humanity.

The BBC published an article on their website about a scientist who did some research linking phone usage to low sperm count. It may not be a huge, cataclysmic disaster like 9/11, but it does spark some thought about Virillio's general accident. The telephone (or cell phone) streamlines communication, and one fault in an intertwined web of communication networks will cause a general accident. Its interesting how the scientist in this report says the phone causes lower sperm count (provided that the man using the phone talks on it for more than four hours per day). Perhaps Virillio's general accident will result in the decline in population growth as people become infertile because of technology. However, critics in the article do point out that the idea could be far fetched and more research needs to be done.

This could be considered a "minor" flood in Quebec. It affects a small town southeast of Quebec. According to the news article on the CBC, the floods were caused by heavy overnight downpours. The number of evacuated homes sits at 200.

On Friday, a train pulling ethanol tanker cars derailed in Pennsylvania. According to CNN, 23 cars jumped the tracks. The derailment caused the track to break into two pieces. As for the cause, the article suggests that ethanol leaked from about 9 the tankers and sparked the fire. The article says officials are going to look into witness accounts and check maintenance logs. The train did not get up to the speed limit. A possibility for the derailment might be the broken tracks, but that seems unlikely. If it was known that the tankers were already leaking ethanol, its only a matter of time before a spark from the rails will ignite the substance. The article doesn't seem to mention anything about an explosoin occuring, although igniting the ethanol will have caused some form of an explosion, sending some cars off the rails.

Yesterday was Bridge day in West Vriginia, a BASE jumper died after jumping from a bridge when his parachute failed to open in time. BASE jumping is an acronym for people that jump from buildings, antennae, spans, and earth. Although the jumper died, officials continued to let people jump from the bridge as weather did not play a role in the jumper's death. CNN says its the first death on Bridge Day since 1987, and there have only been 100 BASE fatalities around the world since 1981. For this man, its probably just bad luck.