We Can Know ... ?

With all of the natural disasters and the radiation leaks from Japan, I find myself wondering about the end of the world.  I know I'm not the only one.  

I don't spend every waking moment thinking about it.  It's just when I hear of something else terrible, like another earthquake or Japan dumping radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean.  

Did you know that there have been 107 earthquakes since January 1, 2011 with a magnitude 6.0 or greater (you can do a search of all earthquakes here)?  There were only 60 earthquakes 6.0 magnitude or greater in the same time period in 2010.  In fact, there were only 173 total in 2010.  Going back further, there were only THIRTY-FOUR earthquakes above 6.0 in 2009 in the same time period.  And only 161 in the entire year.  This intrigued me, so I kept thinking about it.  

I went back a few years and this is what I found:

It certainly looks like we've had a lot of strong earthquakes this year.  Many, many more than in this time period in years past.   The average for the past 10 years (in this time period) is 0.462 earthquakes of 6.0 magnitude or greater per day, or one earthquake every 2.29 days.  For this year, there are 1.138 earthquakes of 6.0 magnitude or greater per day, or one earthquake every 0.879 days.  

Scary, right?  I really shouldn't think about it as much as I do.  It just intrigues me, and then I have to do some research!

Anyway, I'm not the only person "researching" about possibilities for the end of the world.  I keep seeing these "We can know" billboards all over Denver:

Basically, these people think that they can predict the rapture.  The rapture will begin on May 21, 2011 (the actual end of days will be October 21, 2011).  Do I believe them?  No.  But, funny thing, they think that the rapture will begin with a giant earthquake.  ;)

They claim that the Bible has shown them the date.  I think it's a load of crap.  But, I'm sure there are plenty of people who believe.  Otherwise, how could they afford all of the billboards?!  ;)

Anyway, I often wonder about groups like these.  I mean, this isn't the first group who have "predicted" the end of times at a specific date.  Obviously, all of the previous groups have been wrong.  So, what happens to the group?  Do they come up with some kind of excuse and continue or do they accept failure and disband?  What happens to the members?  Do they lose faith after God broke God's supposed "promise" to destroy the earth on X date?  Or do they join the next end of days prediction group?  

I don't know.  I imagine that it could be quite disappointing for members.  But, since I'm enjoying my time here on earth, I'm going to go ahead and hope that they are disappointed.  ;)

Radiation Questions

There are so many conflicting reports coming out of Japan that I don't know what to think.  Most are saying that the radiation levels are not dangerous.  However, a good many are saying that the levels are something to be concerned about.  

What are we supposed to believe?  XKCD has a chart that is floating around in internet-land lately.  It describes the amounts of radiation and what is considered dangerous.  It's actually really helpful.  If you're like me, you don't really understand what the numbers mean.  This helps put things in perspective.  

However, I'm still terrified of radiation.  This article describes how I feel about it:

Science has never found such a "safe" threshold, and never will.  
In the 1950s Dr. Alice Stewart showed a definitive link between medical x-rays administered to pregnant women and the curse of childhood leukemia among their offspring.
After a fierce 30-year debate, the medical profession agreed.   Today, administering an x-ray to a pregnant woman is universally understood to be a serious health hazard.

Those who pioneered the health physics profession---towering greats like Dr. Karl Z. Morgan and Dr. John Gofman---set a definitive, impenetrable standard.  A safe dose of radiation does not exist.  All doses, "insignificant" or otherwise, can harm the human organism.   

So, what am I supposed to believe?  There are always going to be conflicting reports.  I am of the group voting "No" to nuclear power now.  Before I was relatively neutral.  

George Monbiot also changed his mind about nuclear power.  He's now in favor of it.  He says:

You will not be surprised to hear that the events in Japan have changed my view of nuclear power. You will be surprised to hear how they have changed it. As a result of the disaster at Fukushima, I am no longer nuclear-neutral. I now support the technology.

A crappy old plant with inadequate safety features was hit by a monster earthquake and a vast tsunami. The electricity supply failed, knocking out the cooling system. The reactors began to explode and melt down. The disaster exposed a familiar legacy of poor design and corner-cutting. Yet, as far as we know, no one has yet received a lethal dose of radiation.

That was written on March 21st.  I wonder if Mr. Monbiot is starting to change his mind now that reports of groundwater contamination, seawater contamination and food contamination are surfacing.  

I am obviously not an expert on radiation or nuclear power.  I'm not sure if that makes me more or less scared.  I do know that I don't like the thought of any radiation.  So, now that the radiation (in small levels) has reached the U.S (Colorado, Oregon, Hawaii, Washington, California, Boston, the Carolinas, Nevada, and Maryland), this is officially our problem.  

Only time will tell what the consequences will be for this disaster.  Obviously the earthquake and tsunami already killed thousands.  Now we will play the waiting game to see if the after-effects will be.  It may be that the radiation is minimal and will not cause any real damage here.  However, it could also go the other direction.  Especially since we haven't seen the end (the radiation is still leaking).  I know we will all be hoping for the best... but, I think it's definitely time to stock up on gas masks, potassium iodide, clean water, and general supplies.  Oh, and don't forget weapons!  I see the zombie apocalypse on the horizon.  ;)  Kidding!  ...sort of.  

Haiti

I'm sure that by now, everyone has heard of the devastation following an enormous earthquake in Haiti. It's incredibly sad news. The death toll continues to rise. It's more bad news for a country that has been bombarded by a lot of bad luck. Since 2002, they have had 6 floods, 6 hurricanes, an earthquake, political unrest, and widespread starvation. That's not even EIGHT years. The people of Haiti are due for a break, I think.

Fortunately, there is good news coming out of this terrible earthquake. People everywhere are donating and trying to make a difference. People desperately want to help. Disasters are so incredibly awful, but it does help one to see that there is still good in the world.

Well, unless you look to Pat Robertson or Rush Limbaugh. They are disgusting human beings. I'm not even going to recap. If you don't know, you can find out what's been said here. They should be ashamed of themselves. While the rest of the world is mourning and trying to make a difference, Rush's only priority is to attack Obama while Robertson is just proving that he is evil and insane. Reason number 908,346,828,049 why I think neither one of them should ever be given a microphone/platform to speak from. Disgusting.

Bad News...

This past weekend Fast & Furious 4 came out. I knew that it would lead to more street racing this weekend. I admit that I did enjoy the first one. And, I did have plans to go see this movie. But, I am not a fan of racing in streets where there is a possibility of someone getting hurt.

Saturday night, a woman and her 2 daughters, aged 2 and 13, were hit by a street racer and all three of them were killed. The 20 year old who hit them is being charged with second degree murder. You can read a little more about that here.

It's really depressing. Someone was being stupid and reckless and 3 people lost their lives. Two of them were children. That kid is going to have to live with that for the rest of his life. And, he'll be going to prison. So, not only did he ruin the lives of the people he killed and their families, he also ruined his own. Because of a street race. It's so dumb that it's really depressing.

Also in the news this morning, North Korea launched a rocket. Woo hoo. As if President Obama didn't have enough on his plate, now he will have to focus energies on North Korea.

And, depressing news from Italy. An earthquake shook Italy. A 6.3 on the Richter Scale. So far, the death toll is at 92. So far, over 1500 people have been found to be injured. Thousands of people are homeless. And on top of the loss of life, there is a loss of history. Many of the destroyed buildings are hundreds of years old. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has declared a state of emergency. A tent city is being created for the homeless people to live in.

Indonesia also had a quake early this morning, but there were no casualties.

And, finally, we are destroying our planet faster than we originally thought. Scientists say that Antarctica's glaciers are disappearing much faster than they thought.

Yay! Happy Monday, folks. :)