2004 South Asian Tsunami

On the 26 of December 2004, the earth heaved, the sea rose and the world changed. 
People in 14 countries (mostly Indonesia, followed by Sri Lanka, India and Thailand) experienced a tsunami that is said to be the deadliest tsunami in history as it released the energy of 23,000 Hiroshima-type atomic bombs and caused waves up to 15 meters high in some places. And a result, by the end of the day, more than 150,000 people were dead or missing and millions more were homeless and thousands of homes were destroyed. The ignorance of the general public to the responding of signs of tsunami and slow evacuation due to poor accessibility to disaster areas was one of underlying causes as to way there was such a high death toll.  Having said this, the aftermath of the tsunami caused a lot of social, political and economical for the affected countries.

Northern Shore of Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia

Top picture: June 2003, 2004

Bottom: December 28, 3004                                                                                        

Social Impact

• In Sri Lanka, coastal drinking water supply was affected by the tsunami as it destroyed and contaminated 40,000 coastal area wells. Efforts to restore wells by pumping out seawater have been sometimes counterproductive, as excessive pumping allows more seawater to enter the aquifer from below and  this pumping also causes the walls to collapse.
• The powerful waves destroyed many homes, left people without money and children without parents. Hence to survive the aftermath of the disaster,  many victims resulted to looting for food and money  which created a lot chaos and confusion within the countries.( As seen in the movie, victims who were caught looting were not spared and were sent to jail.)

•  Female-headed households  present a particular vulnerability  as the women have to deal with their own trauma prolonged stress and anxiety, loss of livelihood and at the same time be strong and take care of their children.

(A child mourn for the loss of his mother.)

• I feel that disasters always have the greatest impact on children because often enough, thousands of children witness the deaths of their own parents. I am certain such an experience will haunt them for life, cause a lot of psychological problems for the child and great pain if child receive proper post-disaster care.  In fact, without guidance, love and nurturing from either a guardian or from parents, the child might up astray and commit crimes and hence, causing social problems.

 

•  The burning of  identified bodies caused a lot of moral and ethical controversies . Although it was vital to contain the spread of contagious diseases,  it was always important for bodies to be identified so that families who lost their loved ones would at least have some form of 'closure'.   

Economic Impact

• Damage that occured during or immediately after the disasters caused the total or partial destruction of assets, buildings and infrastructure, stocks and  natural resources.

1.  This completely disrupted production for companies or, lead to an increase in production cost due to the scarcity of raw materials. 
2. Another economic change that followed shortly after, was higher operational costs, lower revenues in the provision of essential services.
3. Lastly, the government had to fork out money for unexpected expenditures such as humanitarian services, debris removal as well as relocation of human settlements.

 

(Elephant used to help remove debris)

For example, in Thailand, tourism contributes to a 5-6% of the country's Gross Domestic Profit (GDP) with a total of 64.7% of the population dependent on the tourism and its related industries (fishing, food vendors, handcrafts) Most areas that were worst hit were areas that depend largely on tourism. For instance, in Phang  Nga alone the disaster claimed approximated 4 thousand lives and left 5000 unemployed. Altogether Thailand incurred a 72,000 million $ of damage and loss to the tourism industry. And a result, financial injection from other countries was to procure productive assets that were swept away and hence incurring debts for the country.

Political Impact

• The governments reputations were tarnished for not having effective public health management, earthquake/tsunami warning system, systematic evacuation routes and also for having low flight frequencies out of the countries.
• Governments were also blamed for not managing or planning the use of lane properly; high concentration of people in danger areas.
• There also have been possible diplomacy outcomes. For instance, the Australian government's quick response in terms of providing financial injection and providing human resources was suggested to be because of it's strong interest to assert it's leadership in the region. 

The Cove (Documentary) Review

The Cove is the Winner of the 82nd Academy Awards (2010) for Best Documentary Feature. It is an impeccably crafted documentary that analyzes and questions Japan’s  illegal dolphin killing.

(Director of The Cove :  Louie Psihoyos) 

The director's aim was essentially to bring awareness about this terrible situation, cease the hunting, change Japanese hunting culture and lastly, to educate people about the dangers of mercury poisoning from dolphin meat.

So why do these Japanese fishermen kill dolphins?

• Profit. Supermarkets trick consumers into thinking that dolphin meat is whale meat, which is not sold at a higher price as compared to dolphin meat, so as it generate more profit.
• The Japanese have defended themselves by saying that dolphins are like pest, they eat a large number of fish everyday. Since Japan relies heavily on its fishing industry to feed its people and for economic growth. Dolphins need to be killed  as a form of  'pest control'.
• Also, they have tried to justify their cruel ways by saying that dolphin hunting has been their way of life for many years now.  In fact, in Taiji, the area where the documentary was mostly filmed, has a 400-year history of whale and dolphin hunting. 

Why is it wrong to kill dolphins and whales? 

(Does this look okay to you?)

• The method that is used is dolphin hunting called "drive fishing". Fishermen in boats bang metal poles with hammers to create a sound beneath the water. This severely disorientates the dolphins confuses the dolphins and allows these fishermen to drive them into the shallow coves where they are eventually shot with the use of harpoons. I believe and accept that animals have rights and thus killing them in that way is simply inhumane. It is cruel.

(Bottlenose Dolphin)

• Dolphins to begin with, are already endangered species hence,  are not as numerous as tuna for example. If people are allowed to kill dolphins or kill dolphins at an unsustainable rate, then very soon, dolphins will become extinct. As a result, not only will there be a loss of biodiversity which will have a negative impact on ecosystems but also, future generations will not be able to interact and learn from with these intelligent and friendly creatures.

South Park Whale Wars Reflection

"Whale Wars" an episode of the South Park comedy series parodies Paul Franklin Watson (below),a Canadian environmental activist, on his role in the National Planet reality TV series Whale wars and addresses the arguments that surround the issue of     illegal Japanese whale killing.  




In this episode Watson is depicted in a physically repulsive  way, with his shirt too small that it shows half his fat stomach. He is also mocked for his controversial methods of lying to his audience to get as much media attention as possible and thinking it is alright to do as just as long as it serves his cause. 


"When faced with a Japanese whaling ship, he does not dare to face them upfront. Instead, he suggests that the Whale Wars crew beat themselves up and lie about being attacked so as to cause trouble for the Japanese." 

Later on. Stan steps up for what he is truly passionate about  and decides to shoot the Japanese ship. This causes  Stan to become more capable and popular. 

The fact that Whale Wars gains more viewers after Stan becomes captain of the Whale Wars crew because of his violent tactics shows the irony of the tendency in Whale Wars, and many activists on  television in general, to exploit violence for money, self-interest and viewer-ship.

VS

In this episode Japanese portrayed as crazy and silly. This reflects the views of Americans who perceive them to be stupid, cruel, heartless and unreasonable. This insinuates the level of cultural sensitivity is low, for example when Eric laughs at the sad scenes of the Japanese at war. 

Towards the end, Stan presents the Prime Minister with an doctored version of the original photo with a chicken and a cow in the Enola Gay instead of the whale and dolphin. The Japanese immediately believe this and begin to slaughter the chickens and cows instead! (This once again emphasizes that the Americans believe Japanese are  stupid!) Finally, as Randy congratulates Stan for making the Japanese "normal, like us." This suggests that the Americans are trying to impose their idea of 'norm' onto others and that it is justified to kill chickens and cows.

Why Study Geography.

There are two sub-fields of geography, physical and human. 

Physical geography is the study of the physical features of the earth and its atmosphere.

Where as, human geography combines the study of human activity and economic geography to explore the relationship between people and their environment.

1. I want to study geography because it helps to explain a lot of what is happening across the globe right now from globalization and immigration to natural disasters and climate change. 
2. I want to be able to understand the complex relationship between human beings and the earth and how geographers find  intellitgent solutions to difficult real-world problems.
3.  Lastly, I hope that through the study of geography, I will really be able to appreciate the wonders and beauty of nature.