The week that was 2/28-3/6/2010
Before and after the flooding in La Faute sur Mer (France). Source: Spot Image. The SPOT 4 satellite acquired an image on March 2nd that reflects the extent of the flooding on the coast and the island of Ré. Click on the photos to be taken to Spot Image.
“We have winds this strong every year, but what wasn’t emphasized by the French government, or weather services, was the fact that the winds would be combined with a high tide.” — French hotelier Mario Hamelin, “Atlantic storm Xynthia kills dozens in Western Europe,” Los Angeles Times, March 1, 2010
“We have to ask how in France, in the 21st century, families can be surprised in their sleep and drown in their homes.” — French President Nicolas Sarkozy, “Europe storm death toll at 62; France hardest hit,” Associated Press, March 1, 2010
“High tides are higher today.” …
The week that was, 2/21-27/2010
Click on the image to be taken to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Center for Tsunami Research to see how models calculate earthquake reverberations in the ocean. The models allow time for evacuation alerts. NBC reported that "tsunami waves began hitting the Hawaiian islands at "exactly the time scientists predicted."
The tsunami raced across the Pacific Ocean at the speed of a jetliner after the quake hit Chile hours earlier. — “Quake-triggered tsunami rushes ashore in Hawaii,” AP / Seattle Times, February 27, 2010*
… the sea level rose almost three feet at Hilo, surging and receding numerous times at intervals of about 20 minutes. — “Tsunami waves crossing the Hawaiian Islands,” NBC Hawaii News Now, February 27, 2010. Click here for time-lapse video.
… if one plate dives under the other, which is probably what occurred early Saturday off the coast of Chile, it …
The week that was 2/14-20/2010
“The form works with the function,” Amale Andros, a principal with the architectural design firm WORKac, told the New York Times last week when explaining a whimsical schematic envisioning the Guggenheim Museum as a water park. The drawing is part of "Contemplating the Void: Interventions in the Guggenheim Museum," a publicity stunt celebrating the 50th anniversary of the museum. Click on the water tower to read the short interview with Andros and her WORKac partner Dan Wood.
“America’s biggest drinking problem isn’t alcohol: It’s lawn watering.” — Amy Vickers quoted in “Turf Wars,” Peter Gleick’s City Brights, San Francisco Chronicle, February 20, 2010
“I don’t believe the economic recovery of the state of Washington relies on cigarettes, candy, gum, bottled water and pop.” — Washington Governor Chris Gregoire on suggested tax increases that, among other things, would levy a penny an ounce on bottled water, “Gregoire proposes …
The week that was 2/7-13/2010
“The Party and the government will help you overcome the drought disaster and address the difficulties, and ensure you have a happy Spring Festival.” — Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee, “Premier visits drought-hit Guangxi ahead of New Year,” BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific, February 13, 2010, via ProQuest
I am working to develop an Emergency Temporary Water Supply amendment that will simply allow San Joaquin Valley farmers to plant, hire and harvest for two years . . . — statement from US Senator Dianne Feinstein, February 11, 2010
“I will do everything I can to stop it.” — US Senator Dianne Feinstein on the Cadiz, Inc groundwater mining project in the Mojave Desert, “Cadiz study shows enough water in desert for 400,000,” Bloomberg Business Week, February 8, 2010
Feinstein’s rider would …
The week that was, 1/31/2010-2/6/2010
that seems to have a mind (and
change it: isn’t that what makes
a mind, its changing?) not much
prone to thinking – rather, thoughts
curl through it, salt or fresh, or hang
between states; sometimes gloss
the surface with their oil-illuminations.
Wind-worried to dullness, pulled two ways
(earth and moon like parents not quite
in accord), unquiet body, it can never
quite lay down its silt; always trying
to be something other, to be sky,
to lose itself in absolute reflection.
*
— “Betweenland 1,” an extract from “The Water Table” by Philip Gross, Financial Times, February 6, 2010
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