Go green, and fight the cars

The news nowadays has always been disturbing. But for the past few weeks, there has been a shift in focus. Instead of reporting news of religious conflicts, political interference, and greedy corporations; the focus is now on : the changing climate.

There was a (?) nationwide strike in Australia's cities last week, people standing up for a greener future. Against un-controlled climate change. Greta Thunberg's climate activism has got people talking. Scotland has become the first country to declare a climate emergency. There are petitions being signed, videos and audioblogs being shared.

And I have been listening to the war on cars podcast. Australia loves its big, huge cars. And they get touchy when the topic comes to parking.

Some strongly support market prices—except for parking. Some strongly oppose subsidies—except for parking. Some abhor planning regulations—except for parking. Some insist on rigorous data collection and statistical tests—except for parking. This exceptionalism has impoverished thinking about parking policies. If drivers paid the full cost of their parking, it would seem too expensive, so we expect someone else to pay for it. But a city where everyone happily pays for everyone else’s free parking is a fool’s paradise.

For the first time, I see some hope for this planet. The war against cars has started.

Heres hoping for a greener future.

Birds in the city

It is spring time in the city. After a particularly stretched winter, I can now hear bird sounds in the morning again. Not just simple chirping charping. Melodius, long , complex bird songs !

Always a good sign, the birds are the first to know of the changing season. The next few months are going to be pleasant , cool and a little rainy (hopefullly), until we get fried by the harsh Australian summer.

Not looking foward to that. Summer is the worst part of the year.

Dry Chennai

The trending news in my part of the news cycle is the utter shortage of water in Chennai city. People are struggling without potable water, private companies have asked employees to 'work from home', and clashes have erupted. The government does what it always does; it has gone into denial mode, asking people not to spread fake news, and asking temples to arrange for special prayers for rain.

Typical Chennai.

I should know, because I have lived in that hell hole for 3 years. Even 10 years ago, the sight of bright , colorful, plastic pots arranged in a line in front of public water taps was common sight. It rained only for a few weeks in a year, and people and places are not used to rains. The slightest rain would cause roads to flood up. But a few soon drying rivers supplied the city with much needed water. The apartments we lived in , on the east coast of the city, was too close to the beaches, so the ground water was brine. Undrinkable. Unfit for cooking, but maybe usable for some cleaning and washing. Fresh water

Uncontrolled population growth, and lack of planning has led to the water tables in the state further depleting. But this never stopped the uncontrolled 'development' in the city. Finally , after decades of negligance,  the city is now dry. Harsh reality.

In the past, the city used to fight for rubbishness like jallikuttu, and 'superstars' of movies, and even language.

But it is now a dry city.

Which country has the most earthquakes?

 

Today I read about the recent earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia. It was caused by the eruption on the younger volcano Anak Krakatau. Also, the country was hit by another tsunami just three month’s prior.

Which got me thinking, why does this country get so many quakes,and tsunamis ? And..how large is this country ? Never thought about it geographically. So I looked around.

Indonesia is one heck of a country, split across five different larger islands, but comprising of upto 18,000 islands ! Managing one landmass is difficult enough, but here they have a political and geographical nightmare to manage, with so many different ethinicities and cultures ! All in the largest sesimically active regions on this planet.

This is what I found on the USGS site.

Which country has the most earthquakes?

The answer to this question is not as straightforward as it may seem. In order to most accurately answer it, we will rephrase the question four different ways:

1. For which country do we locate the most earthquakes? Japan. The whole country is in a very active seismic area, and they have the densest seismic network in the world, so they are able to record many earthquakes.
2. Which country actually has the most earthquakes? Indonesia is in a very active seismic zone, also, but by virtue of its larger size than Japan, it has more total earthquakes.
3. Which country has the most earthquakes per unit area? This would probably be Tonga, Fiji, or Indonesia since they are all in extremely active seismic areas along subduction zones. The sparse seismic instrumentation in those areas doesn't allow us to actually record all the smaller earthquakes.
4. Which country has the most catastrophic earthquakes, or which has had the most damage and fatalities? Both China and Iran are in seismically active areas, have very long historical records, and have had many catastrophic earthquakes. Turkey is also worth mentioning in this category.

 

That is a lot of earthquakes, and a miracle that these places still exist and are able to govern themselves all the while standing on plates floating on molten lava.

 

And this is Indonesia ! The area marked in red. Imagine governing this landmass, when there are average 4 earthquakes per year in the country.