Monk

On thursday we watched an episode of the award winning WhoDunit television series Monk. The episode was called the Case of the Voodoo Curse. In this episode Mink is called in to investigate the mysterious death of a woman who was hit on the head with a baseball. After her death, her family finds a box in the woman's house, and inside that box is a voodoo doll with a baseball stitched to its head. The weird thing is it was mailed 3 days before she died. 2 other people die, and each one ofthem have a voodoo doll mailed to their house a short while before they die. I did not like watching this show because evidence and clues are scarce, as compared to Sherlock Holmes where a lot of clues are found and the reader or the watcher, in the case of the Sherlock Holmes movie, must figure out the puzzle for himself and that is what makes it fun to red or watch. Monk however does not have many clues and the whole effect of "reader figuring out puzzle and then being surprised by surprise"ending is ruined when Monk explains the whole thing in a car chase. Needless to say, I did not enjoy this very much.

Plastiki

I am here to tell you about a new thing called Plastiki. But before that, I have to tell you a small story. During the 1950's and 60's, there were a group of scientists who theorized that early man might have populated the continents by using rafts to sail across the ocean. To prove it, the scientists built a raft out of wood and sailed around the world.The experiment didn't actually prove anything, but it showed that the theory was possible. It was called Kontiki. Now, almost 60 years later, a team of scientists, adventurers and journalists have constructed a 60 foot long catamaran out of plastic bottles. It's known as Plastiki. Their ambitious plan is to use this catamaran to spread awareness about what we are doing to the oceans. Their first stop after leaving San Francisco was the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It is a final stop for all oceanic 

garbage riding the currents, and right now it's bigger than the United States. Their goal, as I said before, is to spread awareness that there is a mass of garbage out there right now which is nearing the size of Canada. If we stop polluting, that thing won't grow smaller, but we can focus all our power the destroy the Patch instead of worrying that it will get bigger. They will also  stop at several sites of ecological importance that are being affected by global warming and the Patch. Islands such as Hawaii, which is the closest US state to the Garbage Patch. Midway, whose spectacular coral reefs and historical WWII shipwrecks are threatened by the large amounts of garbage that breaks loose from the Patch and float into its waters. The British skipper of the vessel, Captain David De Rothschild, says it is a fun and a media-

attracting venture since to spread awareness today you need the media on hand to broadcast everything you say. In my opinion, Plastiki, you have my full support. I think that this is a great way to show the world what exactly it is they are doing to our beautiful oceans, and that there is a simple answer to it. Unite and stop polluting.

1. Haitian dictators stole money from the people for their own pleasure, leaving once rich families on the streets.

2. Soil erosion has impaired farmers trying to make a living.

3. Lack of knowledge and literacy has destroyed many Haitian dreams of getting a job that pays well abroad.

4. In 1838, the Haitians had to pay the French a debt of 150,000,000 to pay slave owners who lost money during the Haitian slave revolution. This weakened Haiti's economy considerably.

5. Since a slave-free Haiti was considered a threat to the right of using slaves, a boycott of Haitian products further weakened the countries' economy.

6. Haiti is today made further poor because the US supplies government extortionists with comfortable aid packages and not the people.

7. The fact that Haiti has high rates of unemployment so it can't send goods to other countries for money.

8. The lack of social infrastructure such as roads, hospitals, etc.

9. The occupation of the US Marines in 1915 dealt a severe blow to Haitian image.

10. Since only people who speak French in Haiti are allowed a proper education.

I got this information from an essay written by graduate student Bob Corbett.

Although it has been more than a week since a devastating earthquake struck Haiti, the nightmare is just beginning. Aid has not been able to reach the front lines of the struggle to survive and with limited supplies, the people are growing desperate. Some have resorted to looting shops and supply piles, taking whatever they can in the struggle to survive. As shown in the picture, even boys are taking part in the looting. But I wonder why they are hurting more people. Haven't enough people been hurt already? In a time such as this, I think people should forge friendships and trust among their brethren, not fight each other. But the question  still remains.Why hasn't aid reached Haiti? Even though US jets and helicopters have taken off from carriers transporting aid, inly a few people have received assistance. This is just one example of how disorganized some governments can be. The people are suffering because of their mistakes.   

A Horrible Disaster

On January 13th, 2010, a massive 7.9 earthquake ripped through the Haiti's capital of Port-au-Prince. When Krakatau exploded in 1893, 36,000 people were killed and this is even worse. more than a 100,00 people are feared dead in Haiti. The search for survivors and dead continues, and entire families have been swept into mourning as their children, wives,husbands,siblings and parents are ripped from them all at once. The photo shows clearly anguish and fear of just one recently rescued Haitian girl. As people find more and more dead, they become more and more demoralized. Aid has reached Haiti, but due to blocked roads  adequate supplies cannot be sent to help the victims. people work with their hands to dig out survivors, desperate to find someone alive amongst the carnage. when i saw the video, my heart completely broke.As the the night settles, I pray fervently that the people of Haiti will find some light to guide them through their dark times.  

My Bintaro Lama field trip

I stepped off the bus at the Bintaro Lama kampung. My group members, Stuart Lyall and Aditya Nijasure, followed close behind.I saw a brown river, similar to the one at the AETRA purification plant. We were about to see how this river water, with the help of WatSan, an aid organization,was purified for the people who lived in the kampung. Intriguing, isn't it? We went to 3 purification stations, stations 6,2 and 4 , in that order. I'll describe each one of them:

Station 6: At station 6, representatives from WatSan added two different products to the water to make it instantly drinkable. The first product was Aqua Tabs. Aqua Tabs are about a half-inch long, and come in packets of 10. Each pack costs Rp.3000, and the people of the kampung are getting a good deal because one, just one tiny Aqua Tab can purify 20 liters of clear (but germ-infested) water. If the water is more turbid, then two Aqua Tabs will need to be added. The second one was Air Rahmat. Air Rahmat is a liquid water purifier, and has the same power as Aqua Tabs. One capful of Air Rahmat (5mL) will purify 20 liters of water. Like Aqua Tabs, if the water is more turbid, then two or three capfuls need to be added.

Station 2: Station two wasn't a water purification station. It was a Public Health Promotion center. There, the children of the kampung learn how to keep water safe, proper hygiene habits, and the importance of washing hands. They even sang an Indonesian hand washing song for us before we left!

Station 4: At station four, WatSan representatives added a substance called PUR into the water. In the demonstration, the PUR acted like alum and formed floc at the bottom of the pot. The water was then poured through a ceramic filter and voila, clean water!

I was kind of sad to leave the kampung. The people there had been so friendly with us in the short time that we had stayed there. The contrast between their way of life and our way of life was HUGE. I hope, some day, they will never have to worry about purifying their water again.

Questions

1. What percentage of the world's supply of water is fresh water?

About 2.5% of the Earth's supply of water is fresh water.

2. Where is the world's supply of fresh water found?

2% is found in the polar ice caps, .49% is found in the form of groundwater and o.o1% os found in the atmosphere, rivers and lakes.

3. Even though the supply of fresh water is abundant it is still a problem. Why?

Although the world;s supply of fresh water is abundant it is still a problem because people an water are distributed unevenly

4.Observe the map of world annual precipitation (opposite).

(a) Describe the changes in rainfall that occur as you move from the southern to the northern tip of Africa.

AS you move from the southern tip of Africa to the northern tip, you pass the Tropic of Capricorn, The Equator and the Tropic of Cancer. Rainfall is highest at the Equator, about 1500 to 2000 millimeters. but is lowest at the Tropic of Cancer, which gets less than 250 millimeters of rainfall a year. I think this is because the Sahara Desert is located there.

(b) Describe the changes in rainfall that occur as you move from the western to the eastern tip of Australia along the Tropic of Capricorn.

At the west coast of Australia, water is very scarce, less than 250 millimeters of rainfall a year. But as you move closer to the east coast, it gets wetter and wetter. I think this is because the severity of tropical storms is greater that the severity of storms on the west coast.

5. Observe the map of water availability per person.

(a)Which parts of the world appear to have a large amount of water available per person?

Russia, Canada and Indonesia all have large amounts of water available per person. The northern part of South America, western Australia and central Africa also have large amounts of water available per person.

(b)Which parts of the world appear to have a small amount of water available per person?

Parts of North Africa,India, North America and parts of Asia all have small amounts of water available per person.

6. Observe the diagram of water use.

(a)Which are the main uses of water?

The main uses of water are for agricultural and industrial purposes.

(b)Which uses have increased more over the last century?

Use of water for community, industry and agriculture have increased more in the last century.

My field trip to the water treatment plant

As the bus rolled across the concrete bridge, I looked out of my window. A brown, trash-filled river greeted my eyes. I almost swore. This is what humans do to the rivers that supplied them with water for thousands of years? Fools. Water from this river 500 years ago was pure and safe to drink. Now it has to go through an expensive purification process for it to be considered safe. My class took a field trip to the AETRA water purification plant to see how water from this dirty river was turned in water to be consumed by the people of Jakarta. It was an interesting field trip, and at the end of it we got to taste the water. The purified water tasted like normal water and I couldn't believe that this water once had bacteria and other deadly germs that could have been fatal. This particular plant processes 5000 liters of water PER SECOND. Whoa, that's a lot of water!

How to purify water in 6 steps:

Step 1: Gather water that you are going to purify. Pass it through large, coarse filters to filter out large debris like cans and plastic bags. Pass it through a second set of fine filters to remove small debris like leaves and straws.

Step 2: Add minerals like iron and magnesium to make the water slightly cleaner.

Step 3: Add alum and stir it into the water. The alum will act like a magnet and draw together dirt particles to form clumps. These clumps are called floc.

Step 4: Pass the water through a bed of sand. This should remove the floc and further improve the quality of the water.

Step 5: Pass the water through more sand; 1 meter of it. The sand should be extremely fine. Add chlorine to kill any remaining germs.

Step 6: Add disinfectant and, once tested for e-coli(a type of germ that causes stomach cramps and,in some cases, death), send it to a reservoir. The water is now ready to drink! Mmmm. That tastes good!

The Water Cycle

Evaporation: Evaporation occurs when the sun heats up a body of water, usually the ocean. The water then turns into gas, which rises into the atmosphere. Once in the atmosphere, it becomes clouds or fog. This gas is called water vapor. As seen in the picture, an example of evaporation is when you see thin wisps of air on top of the water if you live near a beach in the afternoon. This is evaporation in action. By evening, the temperature usually drops a few degrees and the vapor, which is warm by now, rises. Cool air takes its place and the evaporation process is ready to begin again.  Water vapor is pure and free of contaminants.

 

Condensation: Condensation occurs when warm water vapor meets a cold object and turns back into its liquid form. As seen in the picture, an example of condensation is when you take a cold drink outside on a warm day. Soon, you’ll see little droplets of water on the outside of the

glass. This is cooled water vapor. Condensation is the opposite of evaporation, and the water it generates is safe enough to drink. Condensation is used to generate water for human consumption as fresh water supplies dwindle.

 

Precipitation: Precipitation occurs when water vapor inside a cloud condenses and makes it heavy. The cloud’s elevation in the atmosphere is lowered and that is why before a storm clouds block out sunlight because they are so low in the atmosphere. The vapor inside then

becomes too heavy to be kept up and falls to earth in the form of rain, hail or snow. Sometimes, a very violent storm can occur which can threaten buildings and human lives, as seen in the picture.

 

Infiltration: Infiltration (no, not Special Forces infiltration) occurs when precipitation (rain) falls to the earth. The ground soaks up this water and that process is called infiltration. An example is when if you put a sponge in the rain, the water will fall on the sponge and the sponge will soak it up, as seen in the picture. Infiltration is what keeps wells and pumps supplied with

water. As the groundwater has traveled through layers of natural filters, when brought up to supply a household or a village it requires very little synthetic purification before consumption.  

Indonesia Earthquake

This is a post about a terrible earthquake that struck Indonesia's main island of Java. Since Indonesia is smack in the Pacific Ring of Fire earthquakes are no surprise to the residents of Tasikmalaya and Jakarta, the two cities that were hit. But as the death toll continues to grow(38 was the last count), people are thinking that this could be the worst natural disaster to hit Indonesia since the 2004 Aceh tsunami. unlike Typhoon Morokat, this is much more personal since I felt the earthquake myself while waiting for my car to pick me up at school.The reading on the Richter Scale was 7.3.

Typhoon Morokat: A horrible disaster

Madhav again. I'm here to tell you about a terrible disaster that struck Taiwan just about a week ago. This disaster that claimed 600 lives (and counting) has a name. Its name is Typhoon Morokat. Typhoon Morokat is the worst disaster that has struck Taiwan in 50 years and it hit Taiwan with 2 meter high floods and landslides. All that rain destroyed bridges, hotels and just about anything that's smaller than Taiwan. The reason why it was so horrific is that Taiwan is a very mountainous country and instead of letting the rain disperse harmlessly,as flat terrain would,the mountainous terrain forced the water to flow down in huge, powerful torrents that completely obliterated anything in their path. The landslides were caused by water soaking into the earth on the mountains and unsticking it from the mountain. The earth would then collapse on top of helpless people, killing hundreds. Since some people built their villages and farms under the mountains, damage was really heavy in those areas. The worst part is, it's still raining.