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Nepal Earthquake Takes Toll On Lives and Culture- Himalayas Correlation?

Water Aid Nepal

WaterAid has a physical presence in 28 districts across Nepal.

Before the disaster, nearly 13 million people in Nepal were without access to a basic, safe toilet and 3.6 million were without access to clean water.

An estimated 1,900 children under five die each year in Nepal of diseases linked to a lack of safe water, basic sanitation and good hygiene practice.

To read more about WaterAid's Nepal appeal, see: Water Aid-Nepal Earthquake

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Help Rebuild Nepal's Schools

Please consider being a part of this. Food and water are important as is education.

Doctors Without Borders In Nepal

Doctors Without Borders is one of the most reputable organizations. I highly recommend them if you are looking to donate to help the people of Nepal.

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UPDATE: 5/12/15:





From Euronews/Video

Expert:Equally Big Earthquakes Coming In Eastern Regions

Fresh Nepal Earthquake Kills Dozens, Triggers Panic

These poor people! Having to deal with yet another huge earthquake less than three weeks since the last one. This area is becoming unstable due to glaciers in the Himalayas melting which is releasing pressure off tectonic plates and forming glacial lakes. Should one of these huge glacial lakes break their banks as well the results will be far more catastrophic. This is what we should see front and center on news tickers, not the day's news on the Kardashian trash.

I do believe this area will eventually become uninhabitable due to continued melting releasing pressure on plates causing them to move more frequently. It is sad but I think a point will come when it will be an act of futility to bring aid in and people will have to start being airlifted out of the area to protect them. This is a huge undertaking that will in time have to be considered and brings about many moral questions in regards to other species inhabiting this area as well. I am heartbroken to see their spiritual temples and culture being destroyed this way. I am sad also because this proves that we as a species aren't near ready to deal with the catastrophic effects of the climactic shifts we have put into place that are now amplifying these natural events.

The events taking place globally do make one think that we are seeing the book of Revelations from the Bible playing out. I may not post here as much as I used to but that does not mean I am not reading and informed about what is happening in the world concerning water and climate issues. Torrential rains, stronger storms, floods, intense drought (Brazil's drought is so bad the military is considering taking action) and continuing threats to our agriculture, biodiversity and water quality/access tell me that even now we as a whole still do not comprehend the scope of this crisis.

In regards to Nepal and other areas of the world being subjected to the added amplification of human behavior on natural events we must come to terms with the scope of this crisis as we continue to exacerbate it and begin planning for which areas of the world will become uninhabitable within the next few decades and plan on how and where those living in these areas will go. This unfortunately is a monumental task that I frankly am losing hope in us accomplishing in a timely manner. The elites at the UN climate conferences who have jet-setted around the world for the last twenty years going through the motions do not even comprehend the immensity of the scope of this.

Some claim that 2016 will be the year of spiritual awakening. Well, in order to get to that we will have to survive 2015 first and that requires that awakening to arrive ahead of schedule.

Presentation on Himalayan melting:



The monsoons are also just days away with thousands of people out in the open now afraid to go into their homes. The enhanced effects of climate amplification due to human activity exacerbating the force and scope of natural events cannot just be relegated to political games. We are now experiencing the effects of the Anthropocene and they effect all of us.

Earthquake Damages Over Dozen Hydropower Projects

In Nepal's Next Big Quake Hydropower Dams Threaten Catastrophe

Of course, those reaping $$$$$ benefits from this megadam building frenzy would never admit that this proliferation of huge dams could also have contributed to the earthquake in the first place!

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Doctors Without Borders Responds In Nepal
If you wish to donate to an organization that is reputable, I highly recommend Doctors Without Borders

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Nepal Reeling After Powerful Quake Kills Scores/Topples Buildings

A 7.9 earthquake hit near Kathmandu this past Saturday April 25. As of now over 4000 lives have been lost with that number expected to climb. Also lost in the rubble of this massive quake were UNESCO sites and sites of spiritual significance to the peaceful people who live there. Aid is starting to come in but the situation is far from good with many living in the streets due to strong aftershocks. It is heartbreaking to see the damage caused in this spiritual center and while natural phenomenon can certainly be attributed to this I also think other factors are precipitating the possibility of quakes becoming more frequent/destructive.



Rapid melting of Himalayan glaciers has formed glacial lakes that not only bring the danger of flooding to valleys and villages below, but also releases pressure on plates that can lead to earthquakes as this article expounds upon:

In the Jigsaw of Himalayan Risk, Climate Change and Earthquakes Are Linked

Melting glaciers exacerbate earthquake risk

Climate change provides a twist in this already complex mosaic of factors. A warming Himalayan climate could witness more rain. More rain can hasten the melting of glaciers. “If there is climate change and if there is a soaring of temperatures going on and if the melting of the glaciers is facilitated, then the ice sheet melting leads to the loosening of the lithostatic pressure (vertical pressure on the underlying crust),” Mishra says. As a glacier retreats and its weight eases, the earth could show a tendency to bounce back up in the form of a moderate or even a strong earthquake.

Such earthquakes are more likely in the Arctic and Antarctica where enormous chunks of glacial ice are lost. In the Himalayas, glacial melt could be a contributing factor in tipping over in an already stressed system.A new study from the Divecha Centre for Climate Change at the Indian Institute of Science says that in the last four decades the Himalayas have lost anywhere between 300 and 600 gigatonnes of glacial mass. The total glacial mass of the Himalayas is between 3,600 and 4,400 gigatonnes.

The authors Anil V Kulkarni and Yogesh Karyakarte analysed 11,000 square kilometres of glacial area in the Indian Himalayas, compiling data from satellite images, aerial photographs, topographic maps and field studies from agencies like the Geological Survey of India, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development and Indian Space Research Organization. The data shows that 13% of glacial area has been lost. Mishra is certain that if one were to plot the effects of climate change against seismicity one would see a strong correlation between the retreat of ice sheets and increased seismic activity. “Since 1954 you can see the rate of seismicity drastically increased,” he says. “It may be well corroborated that the ice sheets are melting and the zones are becoming seismically active.”


End of excerpt

This most recent quake was the strongest felt in 80 years and at a shallow depth. While some will again say that no one event can be attributed to climate, I do think it is not impossible that the rapid melting of the Himalayan glaciers could well accelerate the possibility and intensity of these quakes as they have flooding and water scarcity. The effects of going deeper and deeper into the Earth to seek water is also something to be considered in relation to how the Earth reacts. The loss of life and culture is devastating and heartbreaking and as we know nature can be unrelenting in its wrath. However, we are also now in the Anthropocene epoch and must be more cognizant of our contribution to amplifying natural disasters by our behavior.

Of course, I doubt very much we will see any mention of this in the mainstream media. Connecting the dots and asking questions as well as educating is not popular in a world now dominated by forces seeking to misinform and deceive for their own benefit. However, whether or not this particular earthquake was amplified in its intensity by melting glaciers or not, the possibility of this in the future cannot be ignored. Scientists have done their job in warning governments about the catastrophic effects of continuing to allow climate destruction to go unchecked. Those who continue to ignore these warnings are only placing more lives at risk and the destruction of more treasures of our planet.



Nepal-Before and After

Nepal Earthquake Tragedy Waiting To Happen

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Climate Change Killing Our Oceans



Study: Oceans Can Take Thousands Of Years To Recover From Climate Change

Decades of climate change have taken a toll on ocean ecosystems – and it could take millennia for them to bounce back, according to new research.

By Joseph Dussault, Staff Writer

It only took us an existential moment to damage them, but they won’t be fixed in our lifetime.

Researchers say ocean ecosystems have taken a hit from climate change – and that it could be thousands of years, not hundreds, before they recover. By analyzing layers of fossilized ocean fauna, scientists from UC Davis’ Bodega Marine Laboratory and Coastal and Marine Sciences Institute were able to make out correlations between abrupt climate change and disturbances in ocean biodiversity. Their study was published yesterday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Biologically diverse seafloors can lose large amounts of dissolved oxygen as a result of climate change. The process – called deoxygenation – can disrupt the biodiversity of ocean ecosystems. But previous studies did not quantify these disturbances and recoveries in relation to sudden climate change. Led by Sarah Moffitt, a UC Davis research team began by extracting a huge fossil core from the ocean floor off Santa Barbara.

snip

And it’s not all in the past – Moffitt says these deoxygenation events should viewed as analogues to the present.

“These past events show us how sensitive ecosystems are to changes in Earth’s climate – it commits us to thousands of years of recovery,” Moffitt said in a statement. “It shows us what we’re doing now is a long-term shift – there’s not a recovery we have to look forward to in my lifetime or my grandchildren's lifetime. It’s a gritty reality we need to face as scientists and people who care about the natural world and who make decisions about the natural world.”

End of excerpt

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Alarmed by the fact that ocean life on both coasts of US and globally continues to suffer and die due to warming and poisoning. Also alarmed at the amount of humans who don't understand that without the oceans there is no us. I also don't think we are prepared for what is to come. We have already reached 404.67 PPM in our atmosphere with this RELEASE OF STORED HEAT JUST BEGINNING AS WE CONTINUE TO AMPLIFY IT DAILY.



Rapid Global Warming May Be Coming Sooner Than You Think

The research is important for understanding present-day climate because it demonstrates that there are regular decade-to-decade fluctuations in ocean surface temperatures and ocean heat content in the South Pacific that correlate with cycles of climate variability in other parts of the Pacific.

The results suggest that when a cycle known as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, or PDO, switches to a “positive mode,” the world will see faster temperature increases than it has since about 1999. The PDO, as it happens, has just switched into strongly positive territory.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the positive phase of the PDO — which features milder-than-average water temperatures along the West Coast of North America and parts of the South Pacific, as well as cooler ocean conditions in the central North Pacific — has persisted since July 2014.

The slowdown in the rate of global warming since the late-1990s, commonly referred to as the "global warming hiatus," has been a chimera, since more heat has been deposited into ocean waters during the period, according to this study and several others. Once the PDO flips and stays flipped, that heat will be rapidly released into the atmosphere, increasing global average temperatures.


End of excerpt

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There is also evidence that CO2 caused previous mass extinction of 90% of marine life due to acidification. The rate of these changes now by adding anthropogenic CO2 emissions over the last plus century that now continue daily is quickening the pace of these changes. What once took thousands of years to unfold has now taken only hundreds, the blink of an eye in the space of time-and it is being driven by human hands. The Anthropocene Epoch is here.

'These findings may help us understand the threat posed to marine life by modern-day ocean acidification'

- Rachel Wood, University of Edinburgh


Ocean Acidification From CO2 Blamed For World's Worst Extinction

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Also see:

The Oceans Warmed Up Sharply In 2013

The Ocean Is Broken

Thousands of Starfish Melting On the Ocean Floor Off Pacific West Coast

Oceans In Critical Shape From Cumulative Impacts

Ocean Acidification Poised To Radically Affect Arctic

Rising Acid In Oceans Is Worsening Industry Toxins

Our Oceans Have Acidified More In Last 200 Years Than The Previous 21,000 Years

Oceans-Celebrating The Source Of All Life On Earth

Reefs At Risk

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