Carl
I agree with you about those men still working in the nuclear reactor -
apparently the company was overwhelmed when they asked for volunteers.
Unfortunately another, and unnecessary, problem is the panic over the
radioactivity - while bad, it's unlikely to kill any, apart from, possibly,
some of those brave workers. The BBC has an article on the Japan nuclear
threat: "The tsunami is the bigger tragedy"
By David Spiegelhalter
Professor of the Public Understanding of Risk, Cambridge University
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12785274
However, many simply do not know who to believe. I've Hawai'an friends who
have relatives in the area the tsunami hit, and they are really panicking.
However, people do tend to trust the BBC which is why I'm sending this
particular article to my friends. If the BBC isn't reporting that the end
of the world is nigh, then it probably isn't!
So how about birders who have friends and contacts in Japan and elsewhere
reassuring them.
Denise
--
Denise Lawungkurr Goodfellow
PO Box 3460 NT 0832, AUSTRALIA
Ph. 61 08 89 328306
Mobile: 04 386 50 835
Birdwatching and Indigenous tourism consultant
PhD Candidate
Interpreter/transcriber, Lonely Planet Guide to Aboriginal Australia
Vice-chair, Wildlife Tourism Australia
http://www.denisegoodfellow.com.au
http://www.earthfoot.org
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/baby-dreaming
www.fatbirder.com/
For copies of Birds of Australia¹s Top End or Quiet Snake Dreaming, visit
amazon.com
http://www.facebook.com/Wildlife.Tourism.Australia
on 18/3/11 8:43 PM, Carl Clifford at wrote:
> Tom,
>
> I also feel very frustrated as well, but think the best thing we can
> do at the moment is donate to an organisation such as Red Cross, they
> are the experts in disaster relief. I know it is difficult to have to
> sit back and watch the terrible images but this is an unprecedented
> disaster and we have to rely on the authorities on the ground.
>
> Before I retired, I was my department's Regional Emergency Management
> Officer and was also in the SES. When those reports and images started
> to come in via the media, my immediate thoughts were "where do you
> start with this mess?' The first stage, survivor rescue is virtually
> over. The next stage will be clean-up and body recovery, which will
> have to be done alongside repair of infrastructure such as utilities
> and transport systems. The Japanese Self Defence and Civil Defence
> Forces seem to be getting on top of the immediate problems of housing
> and feeding the survivors, though they are not being helped by the
> weather at the moment, with this cold snap. Heating the shelters must
> be a great problem.
>
> We should really feel for those working on site. Burnout will be a
> real problem for those working at the pointy end. There is only so
> much emergency service personnel can take in a terrible situation like
> this.
>
> What we can best do for the longer term is buy Japanese products and
> so support the Japanese economy and help the country get through.
>
> As far as what we can do about the nuclear power stations, all I can
> suggest is pray that those 50 poor buggers who are trying to control
> the situation succeed. They are real heroes, as they are probably
> giving up their lives to do it
>
> Carl Clifford
>
> On 18/03/2011, at 9:35 PM, Tom Tarrant wrote:
>
> OK, sorry I lied but I know you will forgive me, SE Australia has had
> record unbelievable floods, Christchurch was torn-down by an
> earthquake but
> what has happened in Japan defies description....
>
> Most Australian birders have contacts with their counterparts in
> Japan.....what can we do to help? We've all seen images of homeless
> people
> with nowhere to sleep, no food and no fuel to escape the freezing
> conditions
> but to cap it all their nuclear power-stations are threatening to make
> their
> regions uninhabitable.....I'm sure that we can do something to help,
>
> C'mon Birding-Aus, ideas? let's get our heads together...I know we
> can do
> do something!
>
> Tom
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