"Extreme droughts in the Western Pacific region are expected to persist over the next three months. Parts of the #MarshallIslands, #Guam, #Palau, #MarianaIslands, and the Federated States of #Micronesia (#FSM) are now designated under extreme and exceptional drought. These conditions are causing a massive strain on agriculture, water supply, and daily life.."
Buried Nuclear Waste From the Cold War Could Resurface as Ice Sheets Melt
Decades after the U.S. buried nuclear waste abroad, climate change could unearth it.
Today in Labor History February 18, 1955: The U.S. launched Operation Teapot at the Nevada Nuclear Test Site. Teapot included 14 nuclear bomb tests. Wasp was the first, detonated on February 18. It had a yield of 1.2 kilotons. During shot Wasp, ground forces participated in Exercise Desert Rock VI. This included an armored task force moving to within 3,000 ft of ground zero, while the mushroom cloud was still growing. From 1945 through 1962, the U.S. conducted 230 atmospheric nuclear weapons tests, with approximately 235,000 military personnel participating. Most were enlisted men, from the navy. However, millions of people were exposed to the fallout from U.S. nuclear weapons tests in the southwest of the U.S. and the Marshall Islands. University of Arizona economist Keith Meyers estimates that radioactive fallout was responsible for 340,000 to 690,000 American deaths from 1951 to 1973.
"In 2013, the US Department of Energy reported that radioactive materials could be leaking from the dome into the marine #environment, but said such an occurrence would 'not necessarily lead to any significant change in the radiation dose delivered to the local resident population.'
"But sea levels around the Marshall Islands are rising. By 2030, they could be between 1.2 and 6.3 inches higher than they are now, resulting in more storm surges and coastal flooding. By 2100, the dome could be submerged in water.
"Locals fear that mounting damage to the structure could present a new set of health risks.
"The dome recently began to crack and chip, increasing the odds that strong waves could force the structure open. A disaster like that would send even more radioactive waste into the nearby ocean or lagoon, which could even force locals to leave the island once again.
"'If it does [crack] open, most of the people here will be no more,' Christina Aningi, a teacher on Enewetak Atoll, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 'This is like a graveyard for us, waiting for it to happen.'"
Open SoE declaration will be for Kili Island, where "people are starving", according to one Cabinet minister; the other order to put focus on the capital atoll's ongoing power crisis.
40 percent of the 33 seats in parliament have changed hands as a result of the November 20 national election.
Among high-profile incumbents losing re-election bids were fisheries and climate Minister John Silk, a 24-year parliament veteran who has been in the cabinet of multiple administrations, and Speaker Kenneth Kedi, who has been an outspoken advocate for justice for nuclear test-affected people of Rongelap, his home atoll, and the entire Marshall Islands.
Voting data provided by the electoral office shows extremely low voter turnout, based on the number of registered voters.
There is no way to determine if the number of voters listed on the Electoral Administrations eligible list of voters is accurate. But based on the available data, only 33 percent - 17,998 - turned out to vote of the 55,167 registered voters.
The postal absentee ballots were particularly problematic. With nearly half the Marshall Islands population now residing in the United States, postal absentee voters could have a major impact on the outcome of national elections. As a result of only a few ballots arriving in time to be counted, only one parliament race was changed by offshore voters.
The Electoral Administration mailed out 3,752 postal ballots to voters - over 1,600 less than one week before the deadline for voters to mail them back to the Marshall Islands - and only 1,469 returned before the December 4 deadline. But only 1,117 postal absentee ballots - 30 percent of those mailed out - were ultimately accepted and counted.
In 1946, the US began its nuclear testing on Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands – a terrifying thought for many Australians. Some 75 years on, the evidence shows their fears were well-founded.
In 1946, the Marshall Islands seemed very close for many Australians. They feared the imminent launch of the US’s atomic testing program on Bikini Atoll might split the earth in two, catastrophically change the earth’s climate, or produce earthquakes and deadly tidal waves.
A map accompanying one report noted Sydney was only 3,100 miles from ground zero. Residents as far away as Perth were warned if their houses shook on July 1, “it may be the atom bomb test”.
Radiation poisoning, birth defects, leukaemia, thyroid and other cancers became prevalent in exposed Marshallese, at least four islands were “partially or completely vapourised”, the exposed Marshallese “became subjects of a medical research program” and atomic refugees. (Bikinians were allowed to return to their atoll for a decade before the US government removed them again when it was realised a careless error falsely claimed radiation levels were safe in 1968.)
In late 1947, the US moved its operations to Eniwetok Atoll, a decision, it was argued, to ensure additional safety. Eniwetok was more isolated and winds were less likely to carry radioactive particles to populated areas.
Australia’s economic stake in the atomic age from 1954 collided with the galvanisation of global public opinion against US testing in Eniwetok. The massive “Castle Bravo” hydrogen bomb test in March exposed Marshall Islanders and a Japanese fishing crew on The Lucky Dragon to catastrophic radiation levels “equal to that received by Japanese people less than two miles from ground zero” in the 1945 Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic blasts. Graphic details of the fishermen’s suffering and deaths and a Marshallese petition to the United Nations followed.
The U.S., EU and UK are pressuring Liberia, the Marshall Islands and Panama to increase oversight of ships carrying their flags to ensure they do not transport Russian oil sold above the price cap, a source who has seen the communications to the countries said on Friday.
In Marshallese culture, there is a prominent attitude of "Enaaj Emman," which translates loosely to "It will be okay." It is strongly embedded in the culture and people's everyday thinking. If you are ever despondent, somebody is always there to remind you that "enaaj emman." It is a focus on hope and happiness that pervades daily life despite the struggles, setbacks, and disappointments that inevitably happen. People retain this optimism even after being irradiated by nuclear testing by the USGovt throughout the 1950s.
Having lived in the Marshall Islands for eight years, I am acutely aware of the threats and dangers posed by both nuclear waste and fossil fuels.
At this point, I expect to see this country of beautiful coral atolls and generous, gentle people be subsumed by rising sea levels. They are undergoing severe stress at 1.1C and will be completely uninhabitable at 1.5C. We will push past 1.5C by the end of this decade, and I don't think we have enough time, nor are we doing the right things, to reverse the momentum. These islands will be gone, and an entire country and culture will have been displaced or extinguished.
It fills me with profound sadness, especially when I think how it all could have been prevented but for the fraud perpetrated by fossil fuel energy companies and the greed of their executives. And let's not forget about the collusion of our politicians through bribery, nor forget about the perpetuation of the fraud through mass media owned by members of the same bourgeois class.
I understand the need to continue seeking solutions. I hope people create those solutions. Enaaj emman. I appreciate people like @pvonhellermannn who, despite feeling despondent, has provided to us long threads informing us about this crisis. Hope is still alive as Tina Stege, #ClimateEnvoy from the Marshall Islands, impresses upon us in these two posts:
Yet I am despondent. I am also very angry. My reaction is to want to dislodge and remove the parasitical elites of the 1%, punish them harshly, and completely dismantle their capitalist systems. I despair that billions will have to die before we make that happen. Certainly among the first great wave of casualties will the Marshall Islanders. And that fills me with rage.
It also brings back memories of living in the islands. It's as close to an anarchist way of life as I've ever seen in the world. And I'm now reminded of an elder woman who was asked by another Peace Corps Volunteer, "Who do you think is the best US president?" Her response: "I think President Kennedy was the smartest president. He sent all these young people here so they could learn "mantin majel" (Marshallese custom). There is so much wisdom in that statement, that it resonates even more strongly for me 35 years later. The world needs to learn Mantin Majel and enact its inherent values of peace, cooperation, solidarity, and optimism.
Apparently the storm surges also close airports on Ailinglaplap Atoll, the outer atoll where I lived for three years.
Ailinglaplap was the traditional capital of the Marshall Islands and home to the Paramount Chiefs ("Iroojlaplap") because it's islands are the largest/longest, naturally and without landfill, in the entire country.
The storm closed two of the three airports. The airports are small and made by scraping the reef that lies beneath the six inches of topsoil and sand. The planes that land on the outer island (read: not the urban atolls of Majuro--the current capital--and Kwajalein) airports are small 19-seat planes. Pretty exciting take offs and landings if you enjoy short, unpaved runways in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
[Excerpt:]
"MAJURO — Powerful waves, driven by offshore storm surges, hit an important U.S. military installation in the Marshall Islands Saturday night, causing some damage and resulting in evacuation of all 'non-mission personnel' from the island.
"Flooding caused by the waves also hit two airports at Ailinglaplap Atoll, leaving rocks, coral and debris in their wake that will keep those airports closed for weeks. Other islands in this atoll nation were reporting flooding and moderate damage."
...
"Wave swells also seriously flooded islands in Ailinglaplap Atoll, tossing debris onto airfields at Woja and Jeh islands. It likely will take weeks to clear the runways for air service to return. Kili Island, home of the displaced Bikini Islanders, also experienced flooding Saturday-Sunday.
"The elevation of most islands in this atoll nation are in the three-to-six-foot (one-to-two-meter) range. Ocean flooding due to rising sea levels has increased throughout the Marshall Islands in recent years, with dozens of small, “nuisance” inundations on Majuro Atoll, the capital, and other atolls each year. Saturday night’s wave flooding incident at Roi-Namur was a significant escalation over minor ocean inundations seen in the Marshall Islands the past year."
...
"While Kwajalein and Ailinglaplap were dealing with the aftermath of wave-driven ocean flooding, Majuro has been facing an ongoing power crisis for the past two weeks, with numerous extended power outages affecting most parts of the capital atoll. These have resulted from the decline of old generators that constantly break down, leaving the utility company without adequate electrical generating capacity to power the entire atoll."
The Marshall Islands are a harbinger of what's to come from climate change.
A sad chapter in the history of Oceania are the hundreds of nuclear tests that have been conducted by the #UnitedStates 🇺🇸, the #UnitedKingdom 🇬🇧, and #France 🇫🇷. This map shows the locations in #Australia 🇦🇺, the #MarshallIslands 🇲🇭, #Kiribati 🇰🇮, and #FrenchPolynesia 🇵🇫 where these three nations have detonated nuclear devices along with estimated yields in kilotons of TNT equivalent. #Hiroshima and #Nagasaki are also shown for comparison.
#ClimateDiary There is no question that #COP28 will be the most important yet. The #GlobalStocktake will be the “biggest accountability moment in history”, and on its basis leaders will need to make crucial key decisions about fiscal and policy commitments. With less than two months to go, we need to all be as well informed as possible and put pressure on leaders as much as we can. I thought I would start a 🧵that I will keep going in the run up 1/n
40/n Final addition today: everyone please read and share this beautiful, heartbreaking post by @bwinbwin
about the #MarshallIslands. It was written in response to a few posts (11 and 34 ⬆️) about the wonderful Tina Stegen, climate envoy of the Marshall Islands- do watch the videos, too, she speaks so powerfully. We should all try and approach #COP28 as Marshall Islanders, and with “Mantin Majel” wisdom ❤️:
Marshall Islands: President Heine expected to issue two emergency declarations (www.rnz.co.nz)
Open SoE declaration will be for Kili Island, where "people are starving", according to one Cabinet minister; the other order to put focus on the capital atoll's ongoing power crisis.
Marshall Islands election results declared as high-profile incumbents lose re-election (www.rnz.co.nz)
The national election results for the Marshall Islands were declared final on December 27 by Chief Electoral Officer Ben Kiluwe.
75 years after nuclear testing in the Pacific began, the fallout continues to wreak havoc (theconversation.com)
In 1946, the US began its nuclear testing on Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands – a terrifying thought for many Australians. Some 75 years on, the evidence shows their fears were well-founded.
Exclusive: U.S., allies pressure Liberia, Marshall Islands, Panama over Russia oil sanctions (www.reuters.com)
The U.S., EU and UK are pressuring Liberia, the Marshall Islands and Panama to increase oversight of ships carrying their flags to ensure they do not transport Russian oil sold above the price cap, a source who has seen the communications to the countries said on Friday.