Environmental Ethics

Today was the first of 2 special lectures on Environmental Ethics, from the Environmental Diplomatic Leader program at Tsukuba University. Open to all without registration, I joined to learn more about ethical considerations in environmental policy.

The main question of environmental ethics is, given the facts, should we act, and then, what should we do?

Also important is how to answer these questions. Science and technology often refer to risk assessment or cost/benefit analysis to determine policies. This leads to the main conflict: who decides what is acceptable risk, and are all risks equal? Many environmental issues are often only handled by technological scientists, but those bearing the risks are often not included in decisions.

Often in global politics we are confronted with the right of the strongest, 'justice is the advantage of the stronger', or 'might is right'. Ethically, we should respect the dignity of each individual and consider ourselves better than other people. How can this practically lead to policies that we all can agree on, if we are to respect everyone's values? Theoretically a free market might lead to everyone's preferences being satisfied, but the rights of minorities cannot be protected without additional measures.

The lecture covered several historic streams of thoughts and explored modern day questions, such as 'does it make sense to talk about human rights of future generations who do not yet exist, and what about animals?' Should we then look at individual animals, or at species as a whole? Concerning climate change, the big question was, if we don't know the exact consequences, what should we do? Some people argue to act on the side of caution, while others say, we don't know what will happen so why do anything at all?

In my opinion, having rights also includes a responsibility for safeguarding those rights for yourself and the world. This links to the new Future Earth initiative: "Future Earth is a new 10-year international research initiative that will develop the knowledge for responding effectively to the risks and opportunities of global environmental change and for supporting transformation towards global sustainability in the coming decades. Future Earth will mobilize thousands of scientists while strengthening partnerships with policy-makers and other stakeholders to provide sustainability options and solutions in the wake of Rio+20."  Sounds interesting? Sign up to be on their committee before March 14 and actively participate in the future of the planet.

International Development Policy

All the material for the course 'international development policy' is available at this website. As disaster risk management, from prevention to recovery, is often dependent on development aid, it is important to understand the links and integration with development. The reading material includes in depth explanations of the working of developmental aid in both Africa and Asia.

Course description:

This course provides students with an in-depth understanding of international development policy through reading and discussing recent papers and reports, with special attention to global transformation. The course is offered through a mix of lectures and workshops. Students will be exposed to a range of international development topics and contemporary policy debates. The East Asian perspectives of aid and development will also be introduced.

International development has undergone significant changes over the last decades with the progress of globalization. The East Asian economies have achieved rapid growth with poverty reduction, while fragile states continue to struggle with the challenges of nation building. Development agenda have become increasingly complex, and new actors such as emerging donors, civil society, and the business community, are now important players in development. Such global transformation presents challenges to the traditional approach to development and aid.

The first few lectures will give an overview of the evolution of international development policy and development cooperation. Workshops include student presentations and discussions. At each class, one or two students will present the main points of pre-assigned policy-related reports or papers and share his/her perspectives, based on the assigned readings. In some lectures, guest speakers with first-hand experience of development cooperation and policymaking may be invited to interact with students.

Earthquakes Japan 2013

This is an overview of all the earthquakes in Japan in 2013, sorted per magnitude and shindo (震度, shaking intensity). This data was generated by using the Japan Meteorological Agency database.

The most earthquakes in a single category were shindo 1 and magnitude 3-3.9, still roughly double the amount of 2010.
Shindo 1 earthquakes ranged from magnitude 1 to 7.9.
Shindo 2 earthquakes ranged from magnitude 2 to 6.9.
Shindo 3 earthquakes ranged from magnitude 2 to 8.9 (Sea of Okhotsk, North of Hokkaido).
Shindo 4 earthquakes ranged from magnitude 3 to 7.9.
Shindo 5- earthquakes ranged from magnitude 4 to 5.9.
Shindo 5+ earthquakes ranged from magnitude 5 to 6.9.
The Shindo 6- earthquake fell into magnitude 6 to 6.9.

Below the frequency distribution of earthquakes during the year is shown:

Comparing the JMA statistics with the data from their database, all earthquakes were found in the database.

JMA:

Intensity	震度７	震度６強	震度６弱	震度５強	震度５弱	震度４	震度３	震度２	震度１	Total
2013	0	0	1	6	5	52	187	613	1523	2387

Database:

Intensity	震度７	震度６強	震度６弱	震度５強	震度５弱	震度４	震度３	震度２	震度１	Total
2013	0	0	1	6	5	52	187	613	1523	2387

News in Japan - December

GEJET
Typhoons spread Fukushima fallout, study warns
TEPCO wins rare praise from Nuclear Reform Monitoring Committee
Gov't proposes extra measures to deal with Fukushima water
Fukushima remains very complex despite progress: IAEA
Slippery clay intensified 2011 tsunami-quake, scientists say
Fukushima water tanks: leaky and built with illegal labor
Fukushima contractor denies claims its staff concealed work terms
Japan lacks decommissioning experts for Fukushima

Gov't tells mayors of plan to buy land for radioactive waste storage

Fukushima towns OK TEPCO's scrapping of No. 5-6 reactors

Santa takes gourmet dinner to nuclear evacuees

Fukushima evacuees go home for holiday season

Japan eyes completion of Fukushima radiation cleanup by March 2017

Japan
Japanese college students struggle to answer basic astronomy questions
Top court says transsexual is father of IVF baby
Irregular working conditions grinding women down
One fourth of jr high school girls don't exercise
80% of 'black companies' guilty of illegal business practices, survey finds
Japan's Daycare Shortage Hits Women in Work

Netherlands
Netherlands reclaims aid (Dutch)

Royal Dutch Meteorological Agency gives code orange alert (Dutch)

Oosterschelde barrier closed (Dutch)

Water level in Zeeland highest since 1953 disaster (Dutch)

Quays in Rotterdam are flooded (Dutch) Alerting trucks are driving through the streets to warn the inhabitants. The water is knee high in several streets along the New Meuse. Passing transportation ships are requested to drop their speeds to prevent waves.

Gender of unknown victims from 1953 flood disaster determined (Dutch)

USA
New York train derailment: Passengers 'impaled'

Sea-Level Rise to Drive Coastal Flooding, Regardless of Change in Cyclone Activity A rise in sea level of 1 meter for the New York City region would result in the present-day 100-year flood events occurring every 3 to 20 years.

Other hazards
Humans Threaten Wetlands' Ability to Keep Pace With Sea-Level Rise

UK Floods: Learning lessons from past storm surges

Tidal surge hits east UK coastal towns after storm

Deadly storm and tidal surge batter northern Europe

Strong winds bring disruption to Northern Ireland

Study Offers Economical Solutions for Maintaining Critical Delta Environments

Newly discovered greenhouse gas '7,000 times more powerful than CO2'

‘Yolanda’ death toll breaks 6,000 mark

Thousands evacuated for floods in Gaza (Dutch)

Planetary boundaries research – Stockholm

Scientists Successfully Forecasted the Size and Location of an Earthquake

Assessing the Impact of Climate Change On a Global Scale

Heavy storm hits Western Europe (Dutch)

Flood warnings in place as storms sweep across the UK

Brazilian military deployed on behalf of flood victims (Dutch)

Vulnerable people

Homosexuality again punishable in India (Dutch)

Court Australia prohibits same sex marriage (Dutch)

One third of children unregistered (Dutch)

China International Water Law

The website of China International Water Law, by the Xiamen International Water Law Research Group at Xiamen University has a wealth of information on Chinese water laws as well as full access to publications on the topic of transboundary water management. 

Xiamen is located on the coast in Fujian province, near Taiwan. Did you know that China has more than 50 transboundary watercourses shared by its 31 provinces and regions and 14 neighboring countries? Find out more about Chinese water policies on the website. 

R&D seminar Post Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan, 1330) : Philippine DRRM against water related disaster

Today we had a presentation by Hayato Nakamura, who is Project Formulation Advisor at the JICA Philippine Office. He showed many pictures of the destruction of the typhoon last November 8-9, and explained different response measures. The fact that the storm was approaching was not widely known among the people. One reason was that the wide spread SMS network had gone offline.

One issue increasing vulnerability is the lack of enforcement of building codes. While there are criteria for safely constructing concrete buildings, it was found that many of the destroyed buildings contained shore sand and seashells, which could not withstand the storm. In general, reinforced concrete buildings were found to be the most efficient in withstanding the storm.

Another issue is people's concept of the river area. Many people have no idea of where the river area exactly is and as a consequence live inside the area. One photo even showed a city hall built inside the river area. People usually manage floods by evacuating and surviving on the second floor of their buildings, if there is one, and if the flood stays below it. During this typhoon, an older woman explained she didn't dare go outside when her house began to flood, as she was afraid the fierce winds would have killed her. Luckily she had an air pocket between herself and the ceiling so she could survive. For her it was a matter of debating how she would die, outside in the storm or inside drowning in her house.

Given that many reports (UN, ADB, HFA) have named the Philippines as a great example of successful disaster risk reduction and preparedness, in combination with the damages of this disaster, I asked him if he thought the Philippines could still be described as a success. He responded very positively, and contrasted the new Philippine disaster act  from 2010 to the Japanese bast from 1961. Many things have been changed drastically, such as the increase in DRR (5% of the local government budget) and the creation of DRM plans. So naturally Japan has had more time to enact their law, and Philippines is still in the process.

New map of Japan by GSI

The Geographical Survey Institute has released a new online interactive map of Japan.

What's interactive about it? Outside of the regular maps with volcanoes and historical pictures, they have added many layers of additional information. For instance, you can select the category 'disaster prevention' and view the crustal deformation from the GEJET per prefecture. It shows Tsukuba's ground surface subsided about 10 cm.
Areas in Aomori, Akita and Yamagata were raised about 3-10 cm, whereas the entire East coast from Iwate to Chiba experienced some amount of subsidence. The highest figure is -114 cm, on the coast line Northeast of Sendai city. All in all, a great map for scientific reference.