Friday, March 11, 2011

Pseudo Tsunami Response

So hopefully, if you are reading this blog, and you are not GeoGal or myself, you have crawled out from under your andesite rock and know an 8.9 EQ has rocked Japan, caused a massive tsunami, and another tsunami in Hawai'i and along the Pacific Coast of the US.

Now that you've dusted yourself off, you might think, if you are of the inclination, that this is the End of Days or that the Earth's umbilical cord is unraveling or some other nonsense.

But really, when we start taking a look around, is that funding for research into tsunamis and other natural hazards is being cut. Not making it up. See here:

http://www.civilbeat.com/posts/2011/03/11/9581-tsunami-warning-center-in-hawaii-faces-budget-ax/

and here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/11/tsunami-relief-gop-budget-cuts_n_834479.html?ref=fb&src=sp#sb=524161,b=facebook

Despite the fact that some of the grammar in the Huffington article is incorrect, its content (note correct use of "its") is valid.

So what are we to do? Geologists and anthropologists drink a lot of beer. We could cry in it until the real End of Days. (Or is it after all? Things do seem to be going you=know-where-in-a-handbasket).

As it turns out, with proper funding, communities can accomplish a lot with funding, as a noteworthy OPB broadcast points out:

http://www.opb.org/thinkoutloud/shows/tsunami/

(OK apparently they have not uploaded the full transcript yet. DID NPR FUNDING GET CUT ALREADY?)

Oh, yah, and enjoy that while you can, because the same people proposing to cut research for the National Weather Service/Tsunami Warning Center also want to do away with public radio! I'd say I'll go on strike, but apparently that won't work anymore, they just cut MORE benefits, or cut your salary in half, or blame teachers for the poor educational system without providing them a LIVING WAGE...

Oh but wait. This blog is about GEOLOGICAL events and hazards, and PEOPLE too, but enh, apparently those are disposable anyway.

Anyway, back to the subject at hand: yes, we can do a lot within our own communities. But places like Japan and Chile have good disaster response. Bearing in mind there is almost always be loss of life in these catastrophic events, we must realize that things could be MUCH worse off. MUCH worse. The Indian Ocean tsunami was not that long ago...we have a quick mind to forget.

So all in all, my point today is, stand up for what you believe in. Go to city council meetings. Form a hazard awareness program at your campus. FUND NPR and encourage your congresspeople to do so as well. Because if you don't, we may as well roll over and give up, and there isn't enough beer in the world for us to cry into.

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