A message from Jonathan Parfrey
Images: NASA Earth Observatory. Click on the images to be taken to a series of satellite photos of the tsunami and resulting fires.
Green LA Coalition Steering Committee Member Jonathan Parfrey just posted a memorandum to the environmental community about the nuclear disaster in Japan. “Last Friday’s earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan was a tragic reminder of the earth’s destructive power,” he wrote. “The death toll is expected to be in the tens of thousands. What is occurring, however, at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is no natural disaster, but a human-made one …” To keep reading Parfrey’s memorandum, click here. In addition to being on the Steering Committee of the Green LA Coalition, Parfrey is a commissioner of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. He has also served with the League of Conservation Voters, as director of Physicians for Social Responsibility-Los Angeles and on …
Maps help
Ever wonder how relief workers know where to go when a region’s infrastructure is washed away and millions of refugees are stranded over vast distances? Dutch hydrologist Michael van der Valk sent this link from Hydrology.nl to Mapping Pakistan’s Floods. To see how international agencies are working together to track the water that has now impacted almost 20 million people, click here. To enlarge the UN map above, double click on the image. Thanks to Michael Campana of WaterWired for linking to Feriha Peracha’s heart-breaking account from the Swat Valley, and for in addition to Red Cross further offering this new link to aid organizations at work in Pakistan. From Michael: “Don’t look down on anyone unless you are helping them up.” — Pakistani proverb…
Dirty glow
The ash storm over Europe caused by the eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull Volcano has brought the kind of hot sunsets long familiar in smoggy Los Angeles. Click on this image of Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh by Scottish photographer Murdo MacLeod to be taken to a photo gallery in the Guardian newspaper of ashen sunsets over the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Rain in Spain
FROM NASA’s Earth Observatory: left is an image of southern Spain showing the course of the Guadalquivir River past Seville in March 2009. To the right is an image from March 2010, with blue areas around the river bank showing extensive flooding from late February rain. Click here to see the full resolution images.…
8.8 Chilean quake opens “Red Cross Month”
MARCH has been known as “National Red Cross” month since President Franklin Delano Roosevelt issued the declaration in support of Red Cross efforts to raise funds for World War II services. On the event’s 67th anniversary, the earthquake in Chile underscores the importance of emergency relief services. Nothing is more urgently required following an earthquake than fresh, potable water. To help get it to Chilean quake survivors, click here to be taken to the American Red Cross. Donations of $10 or more are as easy to make as a purchase on Amazon.
Chileans line up for fresh water in the aftermath of Saturday's 8.8 quake. Photo: Roberto Candia, AP via the Los Angeles Times. Click on the image to be taken to LA Times' quake coverage.
North American Native Plant Societies
After the lawn
Garden blogs
