Eyjafjallajokull Eruption 2010

Eyjafjallajokull - AYE-ya FYAH-dla JOW-KUDL

Spewing magma, ground shaking earthquake, thick viscous lava and night inducing ash clouds; these are the common phenomena we associate with volcano eruption. With dramatization from reenaction of major volcano eruptions such as Mount Vesuvius, Mount Laki and Mount Karakatoa it is hard to imagine a volcanic eruption to be anything but. But volcanic eruption can be disruptive even without those cataclysmic effects.



Eyjafjallajokull Eruption 2010

After close to 200 years of dormancy, in the early morning of 14th April 2010, Eyjafjallajokull (pronounce as A – yar – fi – at – lah – yok – ult’) a glacial volcano in Iceland erupted creating chaos all over the world. The devastating effect of the eruption was not in the form of hot flowing magma or earthquake but the fact that the ash plume travelled all the way across the Atlantic Ocean disrupting over 13 European countries as 27 major European airports were closed. It was estimated that close to 60% of all flights in Europe were grounded as the no-fly zone ban was enacted as a safety precaution.



Ash plume emanating from Eyjafjallajokull craters

By 20th of April 2010, it was estimated over 95,000 flights were cancelled and many more re-routed affecting not only airports in Europe but the whole world. Some of the hardest hit countries include Singapore, Hong Kong and Beijing despite being geographically distant from Europe. Countries such as Kenya were badly affected as their export industry was hit badly due to the ban. Some major production company such as Japanese car giant,Nissan, suspended several production lines due to the shortage of parts from Ireland.



Teams of researchers investigating the eruption in-situ

It is hard to imagine that all these devastating effects come from just a “small eruption”. Classified as having a Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) of 4, which is large but not as powerful in comparison to Mount St. Halen (1980) which was rated 5 on the VEI and Mount Pinatubo (1991) which was rated as 6, 2010 Eyjafjallajokull eruption wrought damage not through its devastating effect directly but through the fact that it halted the economic flow of the world.

Volcano in its fury can wreak damage that can be felt throughout the world. Several civilization has been wiped out and some like Hawaii and Iceland still live in fear for a cataclysmic eruptions to come.

Tsunami: The aftermath

The most difficult part in life is not the fall, but picking yourself up after that fall.

Tsunami: The Aftermath tells the story of the devastating 2004 Sumatra Tsunami from British point of view in Khao Lak Resort, Phuket, Thailand. Based on true accounts, it shows the aftermath from 3 perspectives: the victims, the government (British Representative) and the press. The movie cuts through the core of the problem when a nation is crippled by a tragic natural disaster. It shows how the people and the government try their best to find some sort of norm in a chaotic situation.

A lot of emotions were expressed in the movie from the anguish and confusing of losing love ones to the moral dilemma of doing the right thing versus self interest. The last point was shown several times in the movie such as the time when Ian Carter was torn between saving a fellow tourist and looking for his missing daughter and the time when Than, the Thailand waiter, attempt of looting to find some provision for his villagers. In such chaotic situation, our moral and ethical values are really put to the test.

What is right and wrong in such situation may not be so in peaceful times. Not many of us are capable of putting other’s interest before our own but in times of crisis we are more willing to help one another. In times of crisis, those who experienced the same thing feel a kind of bond with each other and such bond are what we sought for; a kind of balm to the soul. But not everyone feels the same.

The government aloofness in times of tragedy can sometimes creates confusion as not many understand their pragmatic takes on a situation. Such take on a situation, without proper information relay, may seem ridiculous and insensitive but the fact is otherwise. The level of understanding between those who were affected by the event and those who are not is at a different plane. Others may not understand the anguish of not being able to reconcile with their love ones but for those who experienced such tragedy the inability to find closure tear them asunder emotionally. But in times of crisis will there be time for proper dissemination of information?

What the movie is trying to show is how in times of crisis bond can be created and also broken. When one is emotionally torn apart, trust from other human being is really crucial. But such trust is hard to get when we are doing all we can to make an informed decision over an emotional one.

The Cove

The Cove
Adrenaline pumping and covet action sequences are not the usual things you expect from a documentary. Filmed in the dead of the night with high resolution night vision and heat vision cameras, The Cove, a documentary about the killing of dolphins in Taiji, Japan is certainly not a film for the faint hearted.

The documentary follows a group of activist called Oceanic Preservation Society, OPS together with Ric O’Barry attempt to shed light and save the dolphin slaughtered annually in the coves in Taiji. It shows attempts of cover up the horror in the cove by the Japanese government and the ways they are trying to maneuver around the restriction places by the IWC (international Whaling Commission).

It is difficult not to feel a tad of sympathy for the dolphins slaughtered in the coves but the documentary brought me thinking: If slaughtering of dolphin is bad, so does slaughtering of life stocks in the world! What is the difference between the slaughters?

In the documentary it was stressed by Ric O’Berry the pioneer in the field of dolphin training that these creatures are intelligent being with consciousness that match on that of our own. He mentioned that the dolphins are free bound creature meant to be in the wild with plenty of space for them to roam. Being the one who started the worldwide craze of dolphin and whale love with his series, Flipper, Ric feels that it is his responsibility to put a stop to this. Such hypocrisy!

In my opinion, just because a creature shows sign of intelligence doesn’t make them any different than any other creature. If you look at it this way, it is wrong to kill no matter what the reason is then it is wrong to kill. One does not simply say that because we kill livestock, chicken and cow, for provision it is ‘alright’ to slaughter them because the Japanese does it for the same reason; for food. It is important to understand that human are creature of habit and culture is a staple in our life. What the Japanese are doing is continuing that culture; the culture that was once steep with dolphins as part of their diet. It takes longer time for them to understand the reason why they have to stop and that time is what not conveyed in the film.

It is also wrong to think that dolphin hunting or killing is inhumane because of what is shown in the documentary. Compared to the way the world treat its livestock, killing dolphin and whale paled in comparison. What barbaric is not spearing the spine of a dolphin but ‘growing’ thousands of cow and chicken in tight, space constrain farms and mechanically slaughter them in cost efficient way. That in my opinion is barbaric. And this point is not conveyed in the film at all.

The documentary is a great eye opener despite everything. The ways the activists are trying to spread the message across with alternative media and guerilla methods really show how passionate they are about the subject matter. Their willingness to sacrifice their time and more importantly freedom selflessly for the benefit of another creature is really commendable. But it clearly fails to put the whole situation into a correct perspective. Biasness towards the subject, one that will affect the lives of many is unacceptable. Emotion only should not be the reason for one to set on a course that will change how others live their life. The consequences are too great and the effect would be devastating.

South Park: Whale Whore

Satire is one of a way tackle a difficult topic and such was used by the writers of South Park in their episode, Whale Whore. Set to cast light on whaling issue and the anti-whaling activists in the States, the episode made fun of the extremist on both side of the argument. While it shows how bad the whaling situation is, it also ridicule the activist’s ‘will do anything just as long as it serve the cause’ attitude.

The episode opens with the Japanese shouting incoherently, impaling dolphins and whales all over US water parks. The barbaric nature of the killing brought the little girl in Denver Aquarium into tears as the dolphins float belly-up in bloody water and caught the nation’s attention showing their futile effort to “keep the Japanese away”.

The whole situation was made to be funny by the over exaggeration and absurd ways the Japanese goes to kill the cataceans. It is really hard not to laugh when the show goes on to show the slaughtering of Miami Dolphin on the pitch just for their namesake! But the unnecessary amount of violence and gore clearly shows how horrible the whole whaling industry is.

But instead of going down the road making fun of the whole industry, the shows goes on the other way depicting the ways the American does to put a stop on the whole situation. A parody on the show Whale Wars the episode shows Paul Watson and his crew of badasses aboard the Sea Shepherd ridiculous methods to stop the Japanese. Depicted as an “incompetent media whore” who thought that it is alright to lie as long it served his cause, Paul is ridiculed for his ineffective and conniving methods to push up the rating of his show. The show questioned his motive as an activist by showing how Cartman and Kenny willing to join the cause because the show is “popular” even though they did not care initially.

The ending if anything is an injustice to the whole story. Made as a satirical twist on the whole situation the writer turned the table to the American showing how closed minded they are by changing the culprit on Enola Gay, the plane responsible for Hiroshima bombing, to chicken and cow instead of the “doctored” dolphin and whale. But the abrupt ending does not really show the whole whaling industry as it is instead it shows the American take on it, how it is not normal to kill the whales. This really put the situation into question when whaling is still prevalent in some parts of US especially Alaska!

As a running theme in South Park episodes, the writers take on a difficult topic and question it honestly and attack it on every possible side while making it interesting and relevant to mainstream society. The whole situation regarding whaling industry boils down to two simple things: the whalers and the activist.

The shows echoes Kyle’s view on the whaler; how it is impossible to change how a whole nation thinks and that it is how it is in the world. Whaling industry has been going on for centuries and it is difficult to a stop on something that has grown into a part of culture. Although the show ends with how the Japanese end up killing the chicken and cow the underlying reason for the killing is still there; as an act of revenge on Hiroshima bombing albeit with different culprits.

The show also questions the acts of the activist, showing how they are willing to do anything to put across their message to the world even to go as far as lying about the whole situation. It really shows how the producer and writer of such shows pull on the heart of the viewer just to serve their own purpose and when Stan took charge of the situation it is thought as wrong as he does it in an unconventional way; going through without the approval of the show.

On top of that they show also shows how the American who fights to save the dolphin and whale as hypocrite for eating cows and chicken. The idea of norm by the characters of South Park clearly shows how closed minded the American are to the way the whole world function because basically the whole situation is about killing for food no matter what creature it is.

Ultimately, despite the attempts on black humor and satirical take on the whole event, the episode managed to spark conversation and create awareness to those unfamiliar with the cause. Although the killing persist and the “war” still goes on, in a little over twenty minutes, South Park managed to if not instill a new rigor to understand the situation better it creates and awareness about the whaling industry at large. The hope is that not for the killing to stop entirely but for the world be a little aware and from that awareness understanding and knowledge on how to compromise on the whole situation.

Geography

When one thinks about geography the first thing that comes to mind is the ‘Earth’. Coined by Eratosthenes in his book Geography which literally means to describe or write about the Earth, Geography is an interdisciplinary study that covers spatial analysis of natural and human phenomena, area studies, man and land relationship and the study of Earth science. But why do we want to learn about Geography?



We often hear about climate decline, global warming and melting of the ice caps in the mass media. People from all walk of life walk down the street holding banners and shouting strong words about green peace, mass market producing products which are environmental friendly and governments talk about green gas emission and carbon tax in political debates but what do all these even mean? Is it true the world is ending perhaps as the Mayan predicted?

Without the proper knowledge and application of geography all these phenomena might just be another propaganda words fed by the media as a new fad to manipulate the society. But while we are all entranced by the media the world is crumbling right beneath our feet and geography might just show us why.

The study of geography let us know how the world functions and its relationship with us. It studies the causes and effect of natural and man-made disaster as well as the relationship between our action and the effect on the Earth. Have you ever wonder how the Earth, one that was so pristine and magnificent turns into such an ugly and violent place to be in less than half a millennia?

Although that knowledge let us appreciate the Earth as a beautiful and sustainable world, it is also an ugly and destructive tool. It makes us understand more about how to manipulate and utilized the world to our gain. These actions were what led to the destruction and the decline of the environment.



Not all is bleak though, recent studies show that Mother Nature has its own way of healing herself and that is through natural disasters.
Naturally, natural disaster was never thought as a way the Earth healing itself but research shows disaster such as volcanic eruptions has its own benefits. The magma flowing out of the volcanoes makes the land around it much more fertile and they also can create new land or islands!

But Geography is not all about disaster and ways to prevent them. Geography is about the Earth, a beautiful and mysterious world that God has created for us. One that is filled to wonders just waiting to be discovered.