Human Activities Contributed to Tsunami's Ravages: Environmental Expert (Here It Comes)

AFP via Yapoo ^ | 12/27/04 | AP

[sandbar]

>To a degree it's simply bringing up an issue of personal >responsibility

Reminds me of that song I learned in Sunday School about building your house on a rock instead of sand. If I choose to live on the edge of a volcano, I can't cry victim when my house is destroyed by an eruption.

(Not saying this is anyone's fault, but some responsibility does need to come from living and working on the beach. Nature is a b*tch)

[SeenTheLight]

CNN link:

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/TECH/science/12/27/tsunamis.environment.reut/

Yep, it was good, old Greenpeace.

[BruceysMom]

Yesterday there was a thread posted here from the BBC I think that had quotes from people that were involved in this one guy said "We heard about the earthquake and we all went down to the beach to see what would happen" HUH? they went down to check out a possible tsunami?

[Bobibutu]

"I live amongst the mangroves and I haven't seen the strand yet that could prevent a tsunami wave like that."

No one said prevent -

"When a tsunami comes in, it first hits the coral reef which slows it down, then it hits the mangroves which furthers slow it down. It may get through that but by then a lot of the energy has already been dissipated."

I happened to live in SEA for 15 years - and saw the destruction of the mangroves - beachfront development in their place.

Reminds me of people in the US living in flood plains and wondering why me?

[jimtorr]

.....tourist attractions in disaster prone areas.

One of the more tragic parts of this tragedy is that the areas where the greatest loss of life occured are not disaster prone areas.

The govts and others involved are very aware of potential bad weather, and take precautions. Unfortunately, they so no need to prepare for a tsunami.

[farmfriend]

Rights, farms, environment ping.
Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from this list.
I don't get offended if you want to be removed.

[farmfriend]

Thanks for the heads up.

[westmichman]

95% of tsunamis happen in the Pacific, that's why no-one was prepared for this. God is not a respector of persons and nature doesn't go by mans'laws. Shoot we may get global warming in Michigan someday. I hope we are ready.

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!!!

[farmfriend]

Shoot we may get global warming in Michigan someday. I hope we are ready.

I have a friend in the UP. Doesn't sound like "global warming" will be coming to your state any time soon.

[F.J. Mitchell]

I believe it was caused by all those tribal dances the Islanders do. The vibration over many eons caused the plates to slip and shift. Walla!!!!!

[swedishobserver]

Although this man might seem somewhat opportunistic
if you cannot follow his line of thought,
I understand his main view - that the mangrove swamps
has been responsible in the past for diminishing the
effects of floods and storms. Human activities always
disturb the ecology, this time we interfered with
an ecosystem that was responsible for preserving animal
and human life along the coasts of the Indian Ocean.
Perhaps thousands of my fellow citizens indirectly fell
victims to the tourist industry building resorts on
what might very well have been old mangrove swamps,
I yet do not know for sure, but would like to know...

From a historical perspective, these tsunamis are
significant events, and do occur enough often to
have affected the ecology of the Indian Ocean area...