'I am one of the Fukushima fifty': One of the men who risked their lives to prevent a catastrophe shares his story

It was, recalls Atsufumi Yoshizawa, a suicide mission: volunteering to return to a dangerously radioactive nuclear power plant on the verge of tipping out of control.

As he said goodbye to his colleagues they saluted him, like soldiers in battle. The wartime analogies were hard to avoid: in the international media he was a kamikaze, a samurai or simply one of the heroic Fukushima 50. The descriptions still embarrass him. “I’m not a hero,” he says. “I was just trying to do my job.”
A stoic, soft-spoken man dressed in the blue utility suit of his embattled employer Tokyo Electric Power Co., (Tepco) Mr Yoshizawa still finds it hard to dredge up memories of fighting to stop catastrophe at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. Two years later, debate still rages about responsibility for the planet’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl, and its impact. Fish caught near the plant this month contained over 5,000 times safe radiation limits, according to state broadcaster NHK.
A report this week by the World Health Organisation says female infants affected by the worst of the fallout have a 70 per cent higher risk of developing thyroid cancer over their lifetimes, but concluded that overall risks for the rest of the population are “low”. Over 160,000 people have been displaced from their homes near the plant, perhaps permanently, and are fighting for proper compensation. Stress, divorce and suicides and plague the evacuees. Read More

Earth Changes and Golden Cities: Lori Toye on Coast to Coast

"When Alligators Roamed the Arctic" --Big Global Change 34-Million Years Ago Shows Shift from Greenhouse Age to Ice Age

The image above shows how North America appeared in the Eocene Epoch,33.9 - 55.8 million years ago. Earth's climate was warm relative to today. Polar ice sheets were smaller and sea level was higher. The climate in Nebraska was warm and humid, but began to cool and become more arid toward the end of the epoch Eocene. To the west, the Rocky Mountains continued to form. Sediment shed from the uplifting mountains was carried eastward by river systems and deposited in Nebraska.

The dominant factors in the rise and fall of the diversity of life on Earth has been a point of debate for scientists nearly as long as they have studied the processes of evolution. In the 1970s, evolutionary biologist Leigh Van Valen began calling the case for biological factors (such as competition with other organisms for food, space and mates) the "Red Queen" hypothesis, after Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking-Glass" character who tells Alice she must run hard in Wonderland just to stay in the same place. The alternative argument, backing the nonbiological forces of the environment (physical characteristics like chemistry and temperature or relative catastrophes like asteroid impacts), came to be known as the "Court Jester" hypothesis.

"This question—which one is pulling the strings?—is a big one for people who study the history of life on Earth," says Shanan Peters, a University of Wisconsin–Madison geoscience professor. "And what we've found is that it's actually both. They just play very different roles."
Peters and Clay Kelly, a fellow UW–Madison geoscience professor, chose to pit the Red Queen and Court Jester against each other on the high seas, over planktonic foraminifera: tiny, shelled, ocean-dwelling creatures with an outsized impact on the planet and science. Read More

Scientists’ Dreams for 2013: Fix Science TV, Make Climate Change Sink In, and More

Last week, as 2013 dawned, Future Tense asked members of the scientific community: What would you like to see change in—or for—science in the coming year?

“My most ardent wish,” ornithologist/ecologist Gordon H. Orians replied, is “acceptance that Earth’s climate is really changing, that we are the primary cause of those changes, and that those changes, which are already serious, are certain to impose major challenges for human life. Widespread denial impedes progress in designing and implementing appropriate policies and regulations.”

Renowned geologist and author Richard Alley has been testifying before Congress about climate change since 2003, and he thinks mainstream media are the problem. “It would be nice to see more members of the press––not just the best of you but most or all of you––explain more clearly the difference between what one scientist may say on a contentious topic, and what the National Academy of Sciences, or the other authoritative assessment bodies, say about that topic.”

Former Nature editor Chris Gunter thinks scientists are the ones who have to adapt. She proposes including “a new section at the end of traditional scientific papers, titled ‘outreach resources.' ” She adds, “If we can't explain our work to non-specialists and non-scientists, then we will never be able to effectively compete for funds, especially in times of turmoil, like now.”

William Conrad, a pharmacology Ph.D. candidate at Seattle’s Howard Hughes Medical Institute, is also focused on publishing. “First,” he says, “make articles freely available within one year of publication; second, make peer review more transparent.”
 

We also need to recalibrate the balance between science and entertainment. “I want science to be re-injected into science television,” said paleontology journalist and author Brian Switek; “We're in a sorry state when [the network formerly known as] The Learning Channel's main claim to fame is a tiny prima donna hopped up on Mountain Dew, and Animal Planet is able to trick viewers into believing that there's a government conspiracy to hide Mermaids.” Read More

Ice Swirls off the Coast of Greenland…For Now

NASA's Aqua satellite view of ice swirling off the coast of Greenland.

Global warming is real. Temperatures are changing, climate is changing, and most importantly, arctic ice is changing, melting. It is absolutely critical we understand this process better so that we can better understand the implications, and some of the most formidable tools in our possession are Earth-observing satellites. Their keen and unblinking eyes watch the planet below, recording a host of characteristics so that we may record their changes.

NASA’s Aqua satellite is one in this fleet, mapping out the entire surface of the Earth—and in particular the water covering our world—every day or two. On December 30, 2012, it took this incredible picture of the southeast coast of Greenland in the late afternoon:

Right now, in the depth of winter, the ice over Greenland and the Arctic is growing. But come March, when temperatures warm, that ice will start to melt. Over the past few years the melting has been larger nearly every year, with the extent (area covered) and volume (total amount) of the ice decreasing rapidly. In late summer 2007 the historical record for lowest sea ice extent was broken, and then in 2011 that record was shattered again. Last year, Greenland experienced a melting season unlike anything that has been seen in a long time; there were unusual conditions that led to this event, such as a large heat wave, but the overall trend is clearly not good. And the reason is very, very clear; global warming, caused by human activity. Read More

Climate change, or crap shoot? Experts weigh Sandy's causes

(Reuters) - A huge storm barrels down on the United States, wreaking havoc with punishing winds, record flooding, heavy snowfall and massive blackouts. Is the main culprit climate change or a freak set of coincidences?
Sandy wiped out homes along the New Jersey shore, submerged parts of New York City, and dumped snow as far south as the Carolinas. At least 50 people were reported killed in the United States, on top of 69 in the Caribbean, while millions of people were left without power.
Some scientists say that the key to Sandy's impact may be an extremely rare clash of weather systems, rather than the warmer temperatures that scientists have identified in other hurricanes and storms.
"It's a hybrid storm, which combines some features of tropical hurricanes with some features of winter storms, that operate on quite different mechanisms," said Kerry Emanuel, a professor of Atmospheric Science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
While Emanuel said that there is a clear link between climate change and general trends toward more intense tropical hurricanes, in the case of Sandy more long-term study is required to determine whether climate change played a major role. Read More

Hot enough for ya... to stop denyin'?

Fearsome, if mysterious, images of climate change: On the left, Greenland's surface ice on July 8, 2012. On the right, July 12. The composite images from three NASA satellites show that the extent of summer melt accelerated from 40 percent of the surface to 97 percent in four days. Most of the thick ice below remains, but scientists say the breadth and speed of the surface melt was unprecedented, and thus far unexplained. (AP Photo/Nicolo E. DiGirolamo, SSAI/NASA GSFC, and Jesse Allen, NASA Earth Observatory

Hoo-boy, been something of a scorcher, no? As you might have guessed, Earth to Philly kind of took Hoo-boy, been something of a scorcher, no? As you might have guessed, Earth to Philly kind of took the summer off. Hey, it was just too hot to blog!And even though a weather-climate correlation should always be heavily qualified (and never are by the "Omigod, a snowstorm! So much for global warming!" crowd), it's getting harder and harder to ignore the day-to-day situation that suggests a larger trend.
July 2012 was the hottest month ever recorded in the contiguous United States. During that month, the surface ice in Greenland disappeared so quickly that slackjawed scientists are still scratching their heads over how such a thing could be possible. And Richard Muller, one of the most prominent voices for what may be politely termed climate-change "skepticism" has loudly proclaimed that he was 100% wrong - the planet is indeed warming, he says, and "humans are almost entirely the cause."
Still, as we approach a cliff of no-turning-back finality, there's a distinct lack of public discourse about what needs to happen soon to avoid such a point. Earth to Philly will keep hammering away to help get this message out, but ours is a tiny (and shrill?) voice compared to who we need to hear from: At the very least, Romney and Obama should be making bold policy prescriptions that explicitly address this crisis with urgent foresight. Read More

Sea levels on US East Coast rising rapidly: Should residents be worried?

The pace of sea-level rise along a swath of the US East Coast – from north of Boston down to North Carolina's Cape Hatteras – is accelerating three to four times faster than the worldwide average, according to a new study from the US Geological Survey (USGS), turning the region into a hot spot for sea-level rise.
At stake: the increased vulnerability of coastal communities to severe damage from storm surges or even high surf caused by storms off shore.
The prime suspect: global warming, through its direct effect on heating water at the ocean surface as well as the effect warmed seawater and air temperatures can have on speeding the pace at which Greenland is losing ice.
Warmer seawater in the North Atlantic and increasing amounts of fresh water from melting Greenland ice can slow ocean-circulation patterns in the ocean basin, which can trigger the accelerated rise, modeling studies have suggested. Read More

Bluefin tuna record Fukushima radioactivity

"All the fish examined in the study showed elevated levels of radioactive caesium - the isotopes 134 and 137."

Jonathan Amos / BBC.com

Pacific Bluefin tuna caught off the coast of California have been found to have radioactive contamination from last year's Fukushima nuclear accident.

The fish would have picked up the pollution while swimming in Japanese waters, before then moving to the far side of the ocean.

Scientists stress that the fish are still perfectly safe to eat.

However, the case does illustrate how migratory species can carry pollution over vast distances, they say.

"It's a lesson to us in how interconnected eco-regions can be, even when they may be separated by thousands of miles," Nicholas Fisher, a professor of marine sciences at Stony Brook University, New York, told BBC News.

Fisher and colleagues report their study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

They examined the muscle tissues of 15 Bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) taken from waters off San Diego in August 2011, just a few months after the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

These were animals whose parents would have spawned in Japanese waters and spent one to two years locally before heading to feeding grounds in the eastern Pacific. Read More

Thirty-six years of failure: a brief history of climate change

Doug Craig / Redding.com

In late June of 1988, the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the government of Canada sponsored "the World Conference on Our Changing Atmosphere: Implications for Global Security".
More than 300 scientists and policy makers from 46 countries attended and released a Conference Statement that said in part, "Humanity is conducting an unintended, uncontrolled, globally pervasive experiment whose ultimate consequences could be second only to a global nuclear war. The Earth's atmosphere is being changed at an unprecedented rate by pollutants resulting from human activities, inefficient and wasteful fossil fuel use and the effects of rapid population growth in many regions."
"The 1988 conference...put climate change on the global agenda and proposed a specific initial target for a global reduction in the emission of greenhouse gases - 20% below 1988 levels by 2005 - on the way to a much larger ultimate reduction, to be set following further research and debate."
To put this into perspective, nine years later, the 1997 Kyoto Protocol that virtually every nation on Earth signed, except for the US, involved a commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2012. Eleven years later, President Obama, in turn, pledged to reduce American emissions 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020. This could be called goalpost shifting.
It is like a 200 pound man setting a goal to weigh 175 pounds in one year. A year later when he weighs 250 pounds, he sets a goal to weigh 225 pounds in one year. A year later when he weighs 300 pounds, his new goal is to weigh 275 pounds in one year. And so on. Our objective from the beginning appears to have been to set goals, not reach them. And when we fail to reach previous goals, we just set new ones. Anyway, the media and the public have a short memory and barely care. And in an election year, the fate of the planet is low on our list of priorities. Read More

Russian cosmonaut Popovich: ETs warn Cataclysms will unify human consciousness

by Alfred Lambremont Webre, JD, MEd
A group of prominent Russian scientists, including Russian cosmonaut Dr. Marina Popovich, PhD, as well as Victoria Popova, Dr. Sc., Ph.D., and Lidia Andrianova Ph.D. have announced a discovery of extraterrestrial communications in pictograms that extraterrestrial intelligence has placed in crop circles and in stone monuments around the world. The group has created a dictionary of over 250 extraterrestrial pictograms for interpreting crop circles and stone monuments such as "Stonehenge and Avebury stone circles in the UK, Machu Picchu, Chavin de Huantar and the Nazca Lines in Peru, the pyramid of Chichen-Itza and the pyramids of the moon and the sun in Mexico and the Moai of Easter Island and others." Dr. Marina Popovich, PhD, Victoria Popova, Dr. Sc., Ph.D., and Lidia Andrianova Ph.D. write in their co-authored book “Letters of Extraterrestrial Civilizations: The Last Warning”, “Extraterrestrial civilizations (ETC) warn: the weakening of Earth's magnetic field has reached a critical value, and threatens the life of mankind. ETC’ instructions in crop circles indicate how to escape from global cataclysms which will begin very soon.”  

ET pictograms predict global cataclysms
 The Russian scientist group states that the extraterrestrial pictograms communicate that “Extraterrestrial civilizations (ETC) predict three preliminary catastrophes followed by global cataclysms of a magnitude beyond anything experienced in living memory. There will be a short time period between all these events." They continue, “ETC warn that civilization has to be pre-informed about the scenario of global cataclysms [before the] beginning [of the] event. A civilization that is not informed has no chance to make the Transition in time and to prolong life. First pre-cataclysm will be related with interruption of global system of communication – phone, Internet. Pre-informed civilization will avoid shock and chaos of super-powerful disaster and has a chance to make the Transition in time.” The Russian scientist group “emphasizes that this is a natural cycle of the planet. Part of this process is the development of human consciousness to a point where humanity will have a ‘window of opportunity’ to make the transition to a higher plane of existence. They explain that this point in history can be seen as a kind graduation for humanity to a higher and more subtle level of experience, a type of metamorphosis for humanity connected with ascension. Nobody can be saved individually, as the transition can be made only through the synchronous unification of human consciousness. The Russian scientist group states, “The time for humans to escape the devastation through the unification of consciousness will be shortly after the first pre-cataclysm. After second pre-catastrophe humanity will have no chance to prolong life because number of people [remaining alive] will be not enough to start up the mechanism of the transition. In the future humanity will join a galactic community of evolved extra-terrestrial civilizations, linked through consciousness.” [See their YouTube below.] Read More

2012. Our Transition. Part 1. Extraterrestrial civilizations' messages for Earth civilization

Light of Awakening Book Trailer

Indonesia quake a record, risks for Aceh grow

(Reuters) - The powerful undersea earthquake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra this week was a once in 2,000 years event, and although it resulted in only a few deaths, it increases the risks of a killer quake in the region, a leading seismologist said.
Wednesday's 8.6 magnitude quake and a powerful aftershock were "strike-slip" quakes and the largest of that type recorded, Kerry Sieh, director of the Earth Observatory of Singapore, told Reuters.
"It's a really an exceptionally large and rare event," he said.
"Besides it being the biggest strike-slip earthquake ever recorded, the aftershock is the second biggest as far as we can tell," said Sieh, who has studied the seismically active, and deadly, fault zones around Sumatra for years. Read More

Earthquake outbreak “almost certainly” manmade, scientists say

A spate of earthquakes across the middle of the U.S. is “almost certainly” manmade, and may coincide with wastewater from oil or gas drilling injected into the ground, U.S. government scientists said in a new study.
Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey said that for the three decades until 2000, seismic events averaged 21 a year in a central U.S. region. They jumped to 50 in 2009, 87 in 2010 and 134 in 2011...

Older Age Confirmed for East Africa Rift

The huge changes in the Earth's crust that shaped the face of the African continent are being redefined. The East African Rift system has two main segments, the eastern branch passing through Ethiopia and Kenya and a western branch that forms a giant arc from Uganda to Malawi. The new research says the two rift segments developed together.
The Great Rift Valley of East Africa, the birthplace of the human species, may have taken much longer to develop than previously believed, researchers say.
Scientists from Australia's James Cook University and Ohio University said their findings suggest a major tectonic event as far back as 25 million to 30 million years ago rearranged the flow of large rivers such as the Congo and the Nile to create the landscapes and climates found in East Africa today.
The East African Rift system has two main segments, the eastern branch passing through Ethiopia and Kenya and a western branch that forms a giant arc from Uganda to Malawi.
Most scientists had believed the eastern branch of the region is much older, having developed 15 million to 25 million years before the western branch, but the new research provides evidence the two rift segments developed simultaneously. Read More

Earth Changes, Safe Havens and Golden Cities on Conscious Living Radio

Lori Toye is known for the I AM America maps. Given to her in a dream by four white robed teachers, the first map rolled out in 1989. Those teachers offered details of earth changes that could change the shape of the United States and the maps vary to spell out the range from minor to major surface alteration. The work didn't stop there. The teachers also offered instructions and advice on what we might do to avoid a worst case scenario. Emerging from a time of maintaining a low profile, Lori now has new information and a new map. Find out more on this edition of Conscious Living.

More than 20 years after publication of the I AM America Earth Changes Map, which delineated the physical changes in the geography of our country, Lori Toye continues her work with more in-depth information relevant to what is occurring now.
The map was published before public awareness of the effects of  global warming and  climate change, and  it incorporated the locations of Golden Cities - or safe havens - sustainable places to live during a time of upheaval.
Her work has progressed into a series of books regarding the Golden Cities. These new publications correlate and expand on the information provided in the first “I AM America Map.”
Her research continues to guide and enrich our spiritual growth and understanding of these beginning times, prophesied to begin in the 21st century, more than 6000 year ago.
You can check the I AM America website for more information on the Golden Cities. Listen to Interview

Study shows oceans becoming much more acidic

The world's oceans are turning acidic at what could be the fastest pace of any time in the past 300 million years, even more rapidly than during a monster emission of planet-warming carbon 56 million years ago, European and US scientists say in a new study.

Looking back at that bygone warm period in Earth's history could offer help in forecasting the impact of human-spurred climate change, researchers said of a review of hundreds of studies of ancient climate records published in the journal Science.
Quickly acidifying seawater eats away at coral reefs, which provide habitat for other animals and plants, and makes it harder for mussels and oysters to form protective shells. It can also interfere with small organisms that feed commercial fish like salmon. Read More

Earth Changes and Safe Havens: Lori Toye on Coast to Coast 2.22.2012 with George Noory

Known for her Earth Changes prophecies, and the I AM America Earth Changes Map which shows vast swaths of North America submerged, Lori Toye will discuss her latest work on the vital role of the 'Golden Cities' --safe places during possible Earth Changes. These spiritual havens will aid in the reconstruction of sustainable communities for future generations, she says.

Website(s):

• iamamerica.com

Book(s):

• Points of Perception
• Light of Awakening

Vedic Astrologer James Kelleher's Predictions beyond 2012

Saturn in Libra

November 14, 2011- November 2, 2014

One of the most dramatic events in Vedic Astrology is Saturn's movement into a new sign. Occurring only about every 2 1/2 years, this event signifies a completely new frequency of subtle energy generated by this spectacular ringed planet. As it crosses the junction point between two signs, Saturn frequently stimulates dramatic changes for individuals and even countries. On November 14th, it moves into Libra. If you notice any significant upheavals, changes, improvements or challenges in the couple of months on either side of November 14th, it is quite possible that Saturn is the reason. Saturn affects everyone differently. It can be positive or negative, depending on the horoscope of the individual, company, organization, or country.

In Libra, Saturn is exalted. That means that is generally strong and positive. A strong Saturn is quite helpful for actualizing the things you want to achieve in life. Saturn is the planet of structure and form, so its influence is incredibly important for making your plans happen in the material world. Saturn helps people ground their lives.

On the global level this transit may present certain difficulties. This is partially due to the fact that Saturn will be joined by Rahu during part of its transit in Libra. Rahu will be in conjunction with Saturn during the period from January 14, 2013 to July 13, 2014. The exact conjunction of these two planets takes place on September 17, 2013. I have talked extensively about the negative impact of this conjunction in the past few years. It signifies a significant increase in world tension, political conflict, and natural disasters. If you would like to hear more about this conjunction click on the video on the left side bar. And if you would like to find out about the two-hour slide show on the 2013 Saturn-Rahu Conjunction click here. Read More

Penn Anthropologists Clarify Link Between Asians and Early Native Americans

[This fascinating article correlates information in the upcoming third book in the Golden City Series, Divine Destiny. Look for this new release in the next month.--Lori]

A tiny mountainous region in southern Siberia may have been the genetic source of the earliest Native Americans, according to new research by a University of Pennsylvania-led team of anthropologists.
Lying at the intersection of what is today Russia, Mongolia, China and Kazakhstan, the region known as the Altai “is a key area because it’s a place that people have been coming and going for thousands and thousands of years,” said Theodore Schurr, an associate professor in Penn’s Department of Anthropology. Schurr, together with doctoral student Matthew Dulik and a team of graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, collaborated on the work with Ludmila Osipova of the Institute of Cytology and Genetics in Novosibirsk, Russia.
Among the people who may have emerged from the Altai region are the predecessors of the first Native Americans. Roughly 20-25,000 years ago, these prehistoric humans carried their Asian genetic lineages up into the far reaches of Siberia and eventually across the then-exposed Bering land mass into the Americas.
“Our goal in working in this area was to better define what those founding lineages or sister lineages are to Native American populations,” Schurr said.
The team’s study, published in the American Journal of Human Genetics, analyzed the genetics of individuals living in Russia’s Altai Republic to identify markers that might link them to Native Americans. Read More