Building our Ark.

international | racism & migration related issues | other press

Thursday September 08, 2005 20:23

by iosaf

This summer flooding really came to Europe. Almost 50 died, a very small figure which reflected community awareness and good municipal responses. But all scientific evidence now suggests that these incidents are best to be considered as part of a new pattern related to global climate change.
We are not dealing with the causes in the short-term. We are thus dealing with effects which are long term. Proverbially the time to put that first stitch has passed now.-

We now face forest fires and flooding of the largest river valleys in summer and extreme storms with tornados in spring and summer.

Today The head of the Swiss environment agency Philippe Roch warned that Switzerland could face an increased incidence of natural disasters, where 7 died in summer and said maps were being prepared to identify the areas at greatest risk.
http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=106&sid=6072287&cKey=1126190574000

"we're going to do maps". Not just the helvetian gnomes, you too. For instance I just noticed all my local supermarkets are a tiny bit flooded. They were very far from the tornado. I don't think they'd survive a houricane, in fact I wouldn't put up much hope of there being enough food in my local area to feed it for a week.

The south of France is presently flooded, and the train lines and motorways are impassable, or to be precise the area of Languedoc Rosillon (northern catalonia) and normal seasonal post summer rainfall though not extra-ordinarily heavy has seen many tornados, 2 of which closed the airport of Barcelona temporarily yesterday. They were unusual natural phenomona for Europe. We are going to see a lot more of them. Our buildings are not built to withstand them. Its very difficult to say when or where they will happen. I saw one yesterday. They're awesome. I'm not sure a nuclear power station could deal with one.

I'm going to prepare a survival tips for you which will be available in pdf form and through creative commons in paperback these will cover everything in a clear and concise way from surviving floods, and horrible new storms to other very unlikely apocalyptic problems you or your community may face.

And a "last minute" evacuation / refugee radio advice is a good idea. Work on your local version.

"The War on Natural Disasters".

together we will win it.