Tuesday, October 1. 2019

Today's schedule is CDAB

C & D Blocks Environmental and Social Sciences - In the learning commons/library today to begin/continue work on your water conflict poster project. Remember:

1. Why is there a crisis over water in your area? What social and environmental factors do you think are contributing to the water crisis? What are common factors that go along with the water disputes, such as political instability, social unrest, economic downturn, heavy unemployment, civil warfare, etc.? 
2. Who are the “players” or "stakeholders" in this conflict? What are their motives and interests in the water dispute?
3. What is the water source in question (river, aqueduct, canal, watershed, tributary, reservoir, dam, etc.)? How large is the water source, and how large is the area through which the water source flows? Approximately how many people use this waterway as their main source of water?
4. Where in the world and in the country and/or region is the water source? Identify the waterway on a map, and highlight areas of the map involved in or affected by the issues in dispute (locations of villages, industries, crops, next closest water source, other water sources, country/clan borders, etc.).
5. How would the water source be affected by different outcomes of the water dispute? Use different colors or a symbol to indicate how the water source would be diverted, dammed or re-aligned. How would the items you highlighted in the previous question be affected by these changes?
6. How, if at all, would this water conflict be resolved? What is the current state of the dispute, if it is ongoing? What are solutions to the water crisis? Can you come up with ways that would provide the basis for a water-sharing plan?

And....this week we are asking you to keep track of your water use. Please fill in the following chart for the week:

You'll get a hard copy in class. Also take a look at either the Water Footprint Calculator or this Water Footprint Calculator

A Block Physical Geography - Today....Oh today we look at Tsunamis and the west coast of North America. We'll watch sections of the Discovery Channel documentary "America's Tsunami: Are we Next?" You will have some questions to work on tonight in your week four package which are:
Why can tsunamis cause such damage and devastation? What are some characteristics of the wave that factor into how much damage it could cause? How do coastal or shoreline features factor into the extent of damage? What role could a warning system play? How effective would a warning system be for the west coast of Vancouver Island? Why?

You can find more information at:
PBS documentary "The Wave that Shook the World"
PEP Tsunami Preparedness website

From Canadian Geographic...

After shock
The devastation of last year's Boxing Day earthquake and tsunami in Southeast Asia offers vital lessons for the west coast of North America
By Jodi Di Menna and Steven Fick

In the year since a massive earthquake and tsunami rocked the Indian Ocean, the question "What if it happens here?" has gained urgency in western North America. The geology of the Cascadia subduction zone off the Pacific coast is so strikingly similar to that of Sumatra that scientists in British Columbia have used data from last year's disaster to refine models of how a megathrust earthquake — on the order of magnitude 9.0 — would affect the province's coast.
"The Sumatran earthquake was the type closest to what we expect in Cascadia," says John Cassidy, a seismologist at Natural Resources Canada in Sidney, B.C. "We set out to learn as much as we could from what occurred in Sumatra so that we could be better prepared when our big one happens."
Geological deposits and coastal First Nations lore indicate that large earthquakes have hit the West Coast every 200 to 800 years, and since the last one shook the region 305 years ago (the article is 10 years old so it is 315 now), scientists believe Cascadia could be ready to rupture at any time. In fact, in September (2005), Vancouver Island slid to the west about the width of a pencil, an event that occurs every 14 months and increases pressure along the fault line. "This slipping motion means we're one step closer to a big earthquake," says Cassidy.

The Sumatran experience gave scientists an idea of what to expect when it does happen. Using information gathered from that event, Cassidy and his colleagues plotted the same pattern of aftershocks and crustal deformation onto a map of the North American coast .
Predictions by computer models were largely confirmed by the Sumatran events, but in some cases, there were unexpected variations. Shaking was stronger than expected and felt farther inland, and the tsunami flooded higher up on shore and with more variation from place to place than scientists had anticipated. These insights will eventually make their way into building codes and engineering designs in earthquake- and tsunami-prone areas, but more immediately, the Sumatran disaster has led authorities to adjust their reaction strategies by adding warning systems and by increasing public awareness.
"Educating people to be better prepared is the most important aspect," says Cassidy. "The Boxing Day images were a graphic reminder of what can and likely will happen in the future. The key is to use the information and learn from it."

And from the Vancouver Sun:

Small quakes regularly rattle the west coast, but megathrust quakes are a different beast. Cascadia’s subduction quakes are huge – magnitude 9 or more. The last one stuck Jan. 26, 1700, creating a tsunami that destroyed First Nations villages and swept across the Pacific causing damage in Japan. There is no predicting when the next on will strike. But experts say there is a 12% probability a Cascadia megathrust earthquake will hit in the next 50 years. Because the Pacific Northwest coast is not heavily populated, a Cascadia quake and tsunami is not expected to be as deadly as the Sumatra quake. But it will be a major disaster. Emergency planners in B.C. and the U.S. estimate the number of deaths could exceed 10,000 with another 30,000 people injured. Communities on the west coast of Vancouver Island and the U.S. states will be hit hardest, but aging buildings and infrastructure in Victoria, Vancouver, Seattle and Portland are also at risk of damage and collapse. The economic impacts are expected to be far-reaching with damage from a Cascadia quake and tsunami expected to cost Canada up to $75 billion – almost twice B.C.’s annual provincial budget – and another $70 billion in the U.S.

AND from Hakai Magazine check out the awesome article on the Cascadia earthquake and our Indigenous population at: The Great Quake and the Great Drowning

B Block Human Geography -Today we'll start to examine the key issue "Why Do Countries Face Obstacles to Development"? Developing countries are confronted with two fundamental obstacles in attempting to stimulate more rapid development:

• Adopting policies that successfully promote development and
• Finding funds to pay for development.

Developing countries can choose one of two models to promote development...self-sufficiency or international trade. In the self-sufficiency model, countries encourage domestic production of goods, discourage foreign ownership of businesses and resources, and protect their businesses from international competition. The idea is that this will promote all parts of the economy, leading to jobs and development. The International Trade Path sees the sale of raw materials, food, or manufactured products in the world market bringing funds into a country than can be used to finance development.

You'll need to complete the chart in the week 4 package with notes from the text on the two different models of development (Self Sufficiency - India or International Trade - Asian Tigers/Gulf states).