News in Japan - August

GEJET:

NRA to study ways to deal with volcanic eruptions near nuclear reactors

No. of dead and missing from 2011 disaster stands at 21,586: The National Police Agency said Monday that the number of deaths and missing persons attributed to the March 11, 2011 disaster stands at 21,586—18,498 in the disaster itself and 3,088 persons who have since died as a result of stress or illness recognized as being related to the disaster. According to the NPA, the death toll in Miyagi stands at 9,538; in Iwate, it is 4,673, and in Fukushima, the death toll is 1,611. In other prefectures, Ibaraki had 24 deaths, Chiba 21, Tokyo seven, Tochigi and Kanagawa four each, Aomori three, Yamagata two, Gunma and Hokkaido one each—for a total of 15,889 dead. Currently, the remains of 90 victims remain unidentified. The NPA said 1,269 persons remain unaccounted for in Miyagi, 1,132 in Iwate, and 204 in Fukushima. Meanwhile, police and Maritime Safety Agency personnel on Monday conducted another search for missing tsunami victims in the three disaster-hit prefectures of Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima, Fuji TV reported. Such searches have become common on the 11th day of each month, conducted at the request of families of the missing. No remains were found.

Japan:

Scientist predicts another major earthquake in Japan by 2017

3 drown after car caught in flash flood at campsite

Half a million advised to evacuate as heavy rain lashes Japan

Death toll Japan typhoon Halong risen (Dutch)

Organic food movement in Japan progressing slowly

Typhoon leaves up to 10 dead, dozens injured

At least 39 dead, 7 missing as landslides hit Hiroshima

It's necessary to take measures to prevent newcomers from living in dangerous areas by coordinating the designation of areas as caution zones and through urban planning. It's also important to keep residents informed of the risks of mudslides.

Netherlands:

"Large-scale dike reinforcement needed" (Dutch)

Nuisance from bad weather particularly in the East (Dutch)

USA:

Northern California earthquake is area's strongest in 25 years

Other:

7th GEWEX: Better understanding of clouds and human activities can improve global water cycle models

How should flood risk assessments be done in changing climate?

Deadly floods return to Serbia and Bosnia

Flood risk visualization software

A Global Inventory of Lakes Based on High-Resolution Satellite Imagery: Earth has 117 million fresh water lakes

Increase in reported flooding a result of higher exposure

'Just right' plant growth may make river deltas resilient

Vulnerable people:

Japan to host 'World Assembly for Women' next month

Happy consumers are better for the planet (Dutch)

Animal welfare in Japan improving

Filling water bottles mandatory for festivals in Amsterdam (Dutch)

US: Worst hurricane anyone remembers

http://xkcd.com/1407/large/

The Netherlands in 21 infographics

The Dutch government has released a document called "The Netherlands in 21 infographics", containing facts and figures on the human environment.

It contains visualizations of food production (including fish), the environmental burdens (including on water use) of the current meat consumption trends, energy consumption (with the highest point of some 300 meters the Netherlands is too flat to generate hydro power), and transportation. The document also has several suggestions for change in the current consumption patterns and how this would help in reaching the EU target goals in reduced emissions. In the end, all production, consumption, and transportation will affect water use, and any reduction will leave room to improve in other areas.

Early Warning System in Chicago

Chicago has elected to apply the Modulator® II Electronic Siren Series for tornado warnings. Chicago has also chosen the most eerie of the sound options the sirens provide. This siren sounds almost as though it has already been heavily affected by the tornado and thereby strongly encourages people not to go outside but to seek shelter (as it effectively sounding as if it is the end of all times). Judge the effectiveness of this warning sound during a real tornado for yourself, or try out the various other options the Siren Series provides.

News in Japan - July

GEJET:

No laughing matter as manga boldly tackle Fukushima

Disaster Big Data

NHK Documentary Disaster Big Data The Key to Recovery, REMIX MissingSky102 Dec 15 2013

The man who is running the length of Japan for tsunami relief

Stigmatized nuclear workers quit TEPCO

Fukushima farmer takes on TEPCO over wife's suicide

Panel wants TEPCO execs charged over nuke crisis

Netherlands:

Thunder causes problems in East and South (Dutch)

RUIMTE VOOR WATERVEILIGHEID (Dutch) meeting Grontmij, starflood program and Marleen van Rijswick

Water nuisance in Brabant (Dutch)

Japan:

Woman drowns in canal as record rainfall hits southwest Japan

The evacuation of 480 000 people, eight municipalities of Okinawa (Japanese)

Japan urges evacuation as typhoon moves in

Japan braces for typhoon Neoguri 55,000 people urged to evacuate U.S. officials at Kadena Air Force Base warned residents to take serious precautions. “I can’t stress enough how dangerous this typhoon may be when it hits Okinawa,” Commander James Hecker of the 18th Wing stationed in Kadena said in a statement posted online. “This is the most powerful typhoon forecast to hit the island in 15 years; we expect damaging winds to arrive by early Tuesday morning. “So be prepared!” Hecker said. “Tie down your outdoor items and work with your neighbors to help them.” He added: “During the typhoon, do not go outside… anything not tied down, even small items, could become deadly projectiles.”

Debris flow in Nagano prefecture (Japanese) – 1 death, train tracks displaced and houses destroyed

3 deaths from typhoon (Japanese): aged 12, 83 and 77 (all male)

Heavy rain in Kanto area end of June (Japanese)

USA:

CNN storm tracker Hurricane Arthur

River basin flood potential inferred using GRACE gravity observations at several months lead time

Satellites reveal possible catastrophic flooding months in advance

Is the U.S. National Flood Insurance Program affordable?

How is coastal risk on the East and Gulf Coasts changing? (US)

Changes in agriculture increase high river flow rates (US)

'Nuisance flooding' an increasing problem as coastal sea levels rise

Other:

'Flood fighter' game teaches Asian kids survival tips

ADB Provides Loans to Help Bangladesh Tackle Menace of River Erosion

Death toll Philippines increasing (Dutch) - 38 deaths

Vulnerable people:

Imagine 10,000 people with dementia going missing and never being found

Society's shut-ins are getting older

U.N. panel calls on Japan to compensate 'comfort women'

Japan must eliminate misogyny in workforce: UNDP chief

U.N. human development report faults inequality

Improvements in life spans, education and incomes are slowing due to natural disasters, misguided government policies and worsening inequality in a world where the 85 richest people have as much wealth as the 3.5 billion poorest people, the United Nations said Thursday in its annual human development report.

“As this report says, it’s not rocket science,” UNDP head Helen Clark said in an interview before the report’s release. “Where people do address these things, development can come along very, very nicely. Where they haven’t addressed a lot of vulnerabilities and development deficits, as in Syria, it all comes spectacularly unstuck.” The UNDP report, published annually since 1990, is intended to inform and influence policy makers. Governments watch the rankings carefully, and “When they don’t do well they put a lot of pressure on us to change the rankings,” Malik said.

Heavy rain in the Netherlands

Here is a video of how the Dutch are handling the recent floods caused by heavy rainfall.

Heatstroke in Japan

After typhoon No. 8 has passed, summer temperatures above 30 degrees have returned. The ministry of the environment warns against heat stroke using a principle called WBGT: Wet Bulb Globe Temperature. This is an empirical index representing the heat stress to which individuals are exposed.

A paper from the end of 2011 described how different ministries are involved in heatstroke warnings:
The Ministry of the Environment has developed and distributes guidelines to prevent heat-related diseases, with specific recommendations for prevention at the local and regional levels [26]. The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MOHLW) also promotes preventive action on heat through health education activities and the distribution of health promotion materials. These and other national entities maintain websites on the prevention of heat disorders. Forecasts of Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT—a widely used heat stress index) and levels of heat disorder risk are provided by the National Institute of Environmental Studies (NIES) throughout the summer via the Internet.

The ministry of the environment has published a possible heat stroke calendar, by using combined temperatures from the cities Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Sapporo, Sendai and Kagoshima, with cumulative figures of the past five years in the left most column:

The number of days with high temperatures has been increasing the past years. This calendar also shows why October and May are the months which are considered to have the best seasons.