Japan Research

For my spring break I went on a cruise so it was hard to stay up-to-date with the events going on in Japan. I didn’t have internet access at all, but there were TVs on the ship with somewhat reliable connection. :)

When I got home I was able to do further research online:

MAR. 20

http://articles.cnn.com/2011-03-20/world/japan.nuclear.food_1_iodine-fukushima-prefecture-spinach?_s=PM:WORLD

A lot of what I tried to notice about this research is how much the information changed over the course of a week. This article is talking about how they are starting to find traces of radioactive material in the water and some foods, but that the amounts aren’t posing any health threats. How much will this change during the week?

MAR. 21

http://articles.cnn.com/2011-03-21/world/japan.quake.tsunami.funeral_1_young-friends-tsunami-rikuzentakata?_s=PM:WORLD

I almost didn’t post this article because its so sad and I got pretty emotional reading it. I think its really important to think about the individuals who lost their lives due to this natural disaster. Its easy to think about it as one large sum... 10,000 people dead. But who were those people? Each of them was an individual with a family and friends and hobbies and goals. Take a moment to reflect on this crisis. Maybe even put yourself in the shoes of a mother who lost a son, a soccer player who lost a teammate, a sibling who lost a brother. If 10,000 people are dead, think about the number of people who are affected by those deaths...

MAR. 23

http://articles.cnn.com/2011-03-23/us/colorado.oregon.radiation_1_radioactive-material-amounts-of-radioactive-iodine-radioactive-particles?_s=PM:US

Radiation particles travel 5000 miles to the west coast of the U.S.

MAR. 24

http://articles.cnn.com/2011-03-24/world/japan.nuclear.reactors_1_nuclear-plant-fuel-pool-fuel-rods/2?_s=PM:WORLD

This is another article that is hard for me to read. The whole time I was reading it I kept thinking about these men that are working in the nuclear plant to try and fix this mess. They are basically committing suicide to try and save their country. They are being exposed to high amounts of radiation everyday and risking their own health to better Japan. I kept thinking about their families and if it were my husband or my father that was going in to work at the plant everyday. There is no way I would let them do it. Everyday they leave their houses and their families have no idea if they will be coming home. I can’t even begin to imagine what that’s like.

MAR. 26

http://gu.com/p/2nyqb (i tried to post this video directly to the blog, but i couldn't figure out how, so here is the link... its worth checking out.. some of the best... worst? amateur footage I've found of the devastation..

MAR. 27