Usually, there are not
many things on
my plate on August 6th, other than spending
a really hot summer’s day remembering the
1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Wherever
I am, it's natural to send condolences to
the victims and pray for peace and a world
without nuclear weapons.
But on the morning of
this August 6th, I rushed to a kindergarten
in Fukushima City, where continuing, and
much needed sampling work by a team of Greenpeace
radiation specialists would be carried out.
We had visited the same
kindergarten in June and at that time, heavy
machinery was removing topsoil to reduce
the radiation level in the playground. Since
then, both the school and the parents have
been monitoring radiation levels not only
in the playground, but also indoors and
the surrounds of the school, such as outside
the school gates - everywhere children normally
go and play.
The school and parents
had found a few radiation hotspots so we
were asked to conduct more precise monitoring
and detailed analysis of the soil.
After we prepared a
precise map of the whole area, we comprehensively
sampled the hotspots and other places on
the site, in order to give a true representation
of the whole school premises.
We measured dose rates
at 10cm, 50cm and 1m above the ground at
more than 100 points across the play area,
and around the kindergarten building. This
was mapped on a grid system for us to identify
where would be the best places to take samples.
Next, we identified
suitable locations for sampling and took
500g of 2cm topsoil, as well as samples
at the same location at two different depths
– the surface and at 5cm deep. We ended
up collecting seven samples from various
locations that we plan to analyse. We hope
to get the results as soon as possible,
and if the results show high levels of contamination,
we will once again demand that Japan’s government
take effective measures to protect children,
including providing the financial resources
and logistics to allow the children living
in the most contaminated areas to be evacuated.
While we carried out
the sampling, I noticed that in many places
around the school, there were desperate
efforts to reduce radiation exposure. For
example, in one spot, there were hundreds
of 2L water bottles piled up to block in
the hotspots. This method may not block
the gamma rays, but it clearly draws attention
to the area to stop children walking into
the area, or even going to collect their
ball if it is thrown onto that soil. Most
of the kids' toys have been washed many
times with all sorts of non-toxic detergent
as an experiment to find out the best way
to lower radiation levels.
Throughout the day,
many concerned parents observed our work
and provided us with cold water and wet
towels (which was wonderful in such sweltering
heat!). Whenever we took a short break,
Jan, Nikki and our other experts were surrounded
by parents, and asked many questions.
It was such a hot day
that for a second, I was reminded of the
more usual Hiroshima Day. But I couldn't
talk about that in front of the parents
who were desperate to protect their own
children in Fukushima in 2011.
+ More
Into thin ice
The cracking and rumbling
when the ship pushes the ice flows aside
to make passage; the countless shades of
blue and white in the ice, sea, and melt
water; the feeling of being completely removed
from the ordinary world, without phones
or internet.
That's why I keep coming
back to the high north.
We are but visitors
here. This place belongs to the animals
that can survive here, like seals, sea birds
and polar bears.
So why are we here?
It’s been two weeks
since our icebreaker the Arctic Sunrise
left a busy Amsterdam for the Arctic Ocean.
We coasted along Norway and then made straight
for Svalbard, the Arctic archipelago between
mainland Norway and the North pole. We stopped
over in Longyearbyen to pick the last supplies
and personnel.
Last night, 24 hours
after leaving Longyearbyen, we entered the
area where the ice edge was supposed to
be, according to the latest data. But the
ice was nowhere to be seen. It became a
running joke: Can I get a glass of coke
– NO ICE?
Over the last 30 years,
the Arctic Ocean has seen dramatic changes
in its most prominent characteristic: sea
ice. You know the planets white top hat?
That white dot on the top of your globus?
And do you know the many reasons it’s important
to us?
However inhabitable
the sea ice is in itself, one of the many
things it does is to help to make the rest
of the world habitable, as sea ice reflects
heat from the sun helps our planet to stay
cool.
At Greenpeace, one of
the reasons we use the phrase “climate change”
and try to stay away from “global warming”,
is that the changes are not happening in
unison across the world. Climate change
can mean colder winters in parts of Europe,
increased temperatures in sub-saharan Africa
and more floods in other parts of the world.
There are a few things
we know for sure about climate change, and
one is that the place where it is taking
place faster than anywhere else – and faster
than predicted by the science community
– is where we are now. In the Arctic.
Every year there’s an
extensive decrease in the sea ice extent
over the northern summer. This is mainly
due to the melting of relatively thin first
year ice that has grown since last summer
– in winter it grows back again. What scientists
now are finding is that due to the increased
melting of old, thicker multi-year ice its
being replaced by thin first year ice that
is more prone to melt during the summer
months. So not only is the sea ice extent
now low compared to historic leves, the
ice is thinner as well.
That’s why we’ve sailed
into the ice. We had to steam another two
hours from where the maps said it would
be before we got our first glimpse of the
ice. As we approached, the ship slowed down
and squeezed its way into the pack ice.
We want to bear witness
as this remote place is changing because
of how we live our lives in that normal
world we left two weeks ago. The ship and
its crew will spend five weeks in the Arctic,
and we will spend most of that time inside
the Arctic sea ice using the ship to facilitate
research that aims at helping scientists
to understand how the Arctic sea ice is
thinning.
