The graphic above shows, of course, the after-effects of the Fukushima nuclear melt down of 2011. You can tell because of that little nuclear symbol hovering over Japan.
Depending upon who you listen to, we along the West Coast of North America are all going to die horribly from residual nuclear radiation, or everything is just peachy-keen. Take your pick.
The World Nuclear Association is, quite naturally, on the Pollyanna side of the equation. After all, it's not like they have a vested interest in calming fears and promoting nuclear power development. In the linked article, they say, and I quote:
- There have been no deaths or cases of radiation sickness from the nuclear accident, but over 100,000 people had to be evacuated from their homes to ensure this. Government nervousness delays their return.
- Official figures show that there have been well over 1000 deaths from maintaining the evacuation, in contrast to little risk from radiation if early return had been allowed.
So zero sickness or deaths from radiation, but well over 1,000 deaths from the evacuation, itself. Do you get that? I don't. What are they counting? All refugee deaths from traffic or illness or other causes and tossing that into a mix to come up with some number that minimizes the harm caused by the three reactors melting down? I don't know, but it sure as shootin' is Pollyanna talking.
On the other hand, we get the really gloomy news: We're All Going To Die.
http://www.naturalnews.com/Fukushima.html
In this, there's the offing of a potential hydrogen explosion, skyrocketing thyroid cancer in the United States, just all sorts of good news from this 'happy chat' site.
I'm sure it probably isn't really that bad. After doing a Google search on Naturalnews and reading a bit about them, they seem to be a group that probably spends its Saturday nights dressed like this:
Somehow, I think the news is somewhere in the middle. It's bad. The fisheries are severely impacted and probably millions of fish and other forms of sea life have died, but I haven't eaten seafood since the BP mess in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. It's not worth it.
What got me started with this post is that I was walking down the street yesterday. Because of the huge fires over in Lake County and several days of off-shore flow - the wind blowing from the Cenral Valley toward the coast - it's been hot and yesterday was very smoky. It was also a Spare the Air Day, as declared by the Bay Area Air Quality District.
Okay, fine. I'm all for being sensible and reasonable and a good steward. It's in my best interests not to burn things just to create smoke, or drive a car that smokes from burning oil. But, in my opinion, the concept of Spare The Air days are not just ridiculous. They are downright stupid.
You're not supposed to drive, you're supposed to take public transit. Well, I suspect that if you do drive it's because you can't take public transit. Not every place in the Greater Bay Area is served by buses or trains and driving to the places to which public transit goes, particularly into San Francisco from almost anywhere else, is expensive. So I suspect those who can take public transit already do. The rest need their car for their job, to get to where they need to be.
So back to why I'm writing about this. Take a look at the first image I posted. I got that by Googling "typical north pacific jet stream". How does the wind typically get to California. It comes from Asia - which is why we're all going to die. Which we will whether from nuclear radiation from Japan or from unregulated pollutants issuing from Chinese factories.
Which brings me to the primary point of this post:
Why am I and others like me being made to feel guilty about simply living my life on 'Spare the Air' days? Does China have 'Spare the Air' days? They should if the image below is any indication. That's the Air Quality Index around Beijing. Now, remember the first image in this post, the one that shows the drift from east to west? That's the jet stream and that river of wind carries all of that unhealthy, filthy air from China across the Pacific to North America.
Here, on Spare the Air days I'm not supposed to drive. I'm supposed to take public transit. I know, I know. It's a reminder to everyone to use commonsense and think, but it still irritates me because I am careful and I do think. I don't drive simply for the joy of driving. I can't afford that luxury.
I also think that if we are really serious about improving the environment on this planet, we cannot put the burden on people already doing their best to be good stewards. It is the responsibility of governments to put needed pressure on other governments who flaunt the responsibility of good stewardship.
My car and I, and others like us, aren't going to solve the problem. We can't stop wildfires or volcanic eruptions or other natural effects that cause problems. But, with strict intervention we could have a major impact on the quality of life for everyone if we can influence the Chinese government and others that are the primary polluters that it's in their best interests to clean up their act.
I am not an activist who marches in a circle thrusting a placard in people's faces, but maybe, if we are interested and serious, we can reduce Chinese pollution through individual effort. Like not buying absolutely everything we do from Chinese producers. What about looking for other sources? If the Chinese factories aren't working to produce what we buy, maybe that will impact the air quality for everyone. I'm willing to try, how about you?
Maybe this should be one of the planks in the political platforms this coming election cycle. After all, we all breathe the same air. Wouldn't it be nice if it was cleaner?
Go breathe - carefully - and have a lovely day.
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
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