Subject: "Tsunami: Waves of Devastation" geography class website Date: Tue, 17 May 2005 16:13:50 -0500 Message-ID: <B14120EE5C432443B21102F7925DAD0202E3F2DE@COKE.uwec.edu> From: "Grossman, Zoltan C." <GROSSMZC@uwec.edu>
Please forward .....
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TSUNAMI :
WAVES OF DEVASTATION
http://www.uwec.edu/grossmzc/tsunami
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A class website on the Indian Ocean Tsunami
and Global Environmental Injustice,
produced by students of Geography 378
(International Environmental Problems and Policy)
http://www.uwec.edu/grossmzc/GEOG378.html
at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, USA, Spring 2005.
Dr, Zoltan Grossman
Assistant Professor of Geography
E-mail: grossmzc@uwec.edu
Web: http://www.uwec.edu/grossmzc
This website was developed in May 2005 by students of
Geography 378 (International Environmental Problems and Policy)
at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, to examine the short-term
and long-term effects of the Indian Ocean tsunami that devastated
coastal regions of South and Southeast Asia on Sunday morning,
December 26, 2004.
Generally, a tsunami happens when an earthquake generates
large seismic waves in an ocean or sea, which can travel great
distances. Past tsunamis have previously hit populated regions
of the world, but this tsunami hit a densely populated coastal region
that was particularly vulnerable to damage. The affected region
included Indonesia (77% of fatalities), Thailand, Sri Lanka, India,
and several other countries--including Somalia on the other
side of the ocean. Up to 300,000 people were killed and more
than 5 million people affected (including 1 million people made
homeless).
Our study is in the context of global environmental justice, or the
ecological implications of social and economic inequalities
between rich and poor countries, and between the rich and poor
(or the powerful and the powerless) within countries. Although the
earthquake and resulting tsunami were natural phenomena,
there was nothing "natural" about the extent of the disaster that
followed. The tsunami and its aftermath is a case study of how
so-called "natural" disasters can have "unnatural" effects in poorer
regions, stemming from manmade social causes such as poor
housing and vulnerable subsistence economies. For example,
the Pacific Ocean warning system can warn Pacific Rim countries
of an approaching tsunami, but the poorer countries of South and
Southeast Asia were not able to afford a similar Indian Ocean
warning system. Plans are now underway to implement such
a system.
The approaching tsunami was detected in advance by some
land-based wildlife, such as elephants, though aquatic life could
not escape the destructive waves. Some indigenous peoples
used their traditional ecological knowledge to predict and escape
the tsunami. But most communities were not so prepared or
lucky, and face dire environmental, economic and social
consequences in the tsunami's aftermath.
Most immediately, freshwater supplies were contaminated with
seawater, making the population susceptible to diseases. Many
fishing villages and fleets were wiped out, and lost their fisherfolk
at sea. Agriculture was devastated not only by the force of the
waves, but by the salinization of farm fields and the destruction
of transportation links to markets. Coastal wetlands and timber
resources were also catastrophically affected, reducing their
ability to buffer the coast from future tsunamis. The ability of
many coral reefs and low islands to sustain inhabitants
may be particularly in jeopardy.
Recovery will come in stages. Since December, the region
and the world has supplied relief and aid to the victims, and
has begun to undertake the enormous task of clean-up of the
damage and debris. An even more gargantuan task will be
the long-term reconstruction of the coastal communities,
in a way that does not ignore the subsistence needs of
small fishers and farmers, or their need for environmentally
sustainable development.
An important element of recovery will be to attract new tourism,
which has dropped since foreign tourists suffered mass
casualties in the tsunami, and the Western media focused
much attention on their plight. Another element of recovery
may be to use the disaster as an opportunity to settle the
wars of independence of the Tamils in Sri Lanka and
the Acehnese in Indonesia.
Tsunami recovery is also a test for the rest of the world.
As the attention of the U.S. and the world is diverted by
other disasters and wars, can it sustain the recovery of
the tsunami-devastated region, in a way that narrows
rather than increases the gap between rich and poor?
Thanks to previous Geography 378 students
who produced the class websites
Water is Life (2004): http://www.uwec.edu/grossmzc/water
Iraq & Our Energy Future (2003):
http://www.uwec.edu/grossmzc/energy.html
Caspian Basin Alert (2002): http://www.uwec.edu/grossmzc/caspian.html
Thanks also to the U.W. System's "Teaching Technology Today"
for printing Professor Grossman's article describing this
Geography 378 class website project:
"Class Websites Contribute to Environmental Awareness":
http://www.uwsa.edu/ttt/articles/grossman.htm
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TSUNAMI: WAVES OF DEVASTATION
GEOGRAPHY 378 CLASS WEBSITE CONTENTS, Spring 2005
HOMEPAGE and links (Zoltan Grossman)
http://www.uwec.edu/grossmzc/TSUNAMI
BACKGROUND:
Global environmental justice (Thong Moua)
http://www.uwec.edu/grossmzc/MOUATHON
Natural disasters (Justin Van Ness)
http://www.uwec.edu/grossmzc/VANNESJJ
How a tsunami happens (Lindsey Springer)
http://www.uwec.edu/grossmzc/SPRINGLE
Tectonics & earthquakes (Vanessa Helland)
http://www.uwec.edu/grossmzc/HAMMVM
Past tsunamis (Courtney Daniels)
http://www.uwec.edu/grossmzc/DANIELSC
Pacific Ocean warnings (Mikel Szyman)
http://www.uwec.edu/grossmzc/SZYMANMM
Indian Ocean warnings (Bryan Frenz)
http://www.uwec.edu/grossmzc/FRENZBG
COUNTRY OVERVIEWS:
Indonesia
http://www.uwec.edu/grossmzc/rykissjr
Thailand (Hannah Lott)
http://www.uwec.edu/grossmzc/LOTTHN
Sri Lanka (T. J. Helgeson)
http://www.uwec.edu/grossmzc/HELGESTJ
India (Brandon Cramer)
http://www.uwec.edu/grossmzc/CRAMERBD
Other countries
http://www.uwec.edu/grossmzc/somersbc
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS:
Freshwater supplies (Megan Ring)
http://www.uwec.edu/grossmzc/RINGMM
Fishing (Renae Haug)
http://www.uwec.edu/grossmzc/HAUGRC
Wetlands and timber (Garett Pankrantz)
http://www.uwec.edu/grossmzc/PANKRAGT
Agriculture (Hannah Stoffs)
http://www.uwec.edu/grossmzc/STOFFSH
Diseases (Brigham Leslie)
http://www.uwec.edu/grossmzc/LESLIEBJ
Wildlife (Carly Wickhem)
http://www.uwec.edu/grossmzc/WICKHECS
Reefs and islands (Nikki Engel)
http://www.uwec.edu/grossmzc/ENGELNM
HUMAN & ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS:
Indigenous peoples (Fabio Lee Perez)
http://www.uwec.edu/grossmzc/LEEPERFY
Tourism (Jennifer Devries)
http://www.uwec.edu/grossmzc/DEVRIEJJ
Clean-up (Kate Krisik)
http://www.uwec.edu/grossmzc/KRISIKKA
Relief and aid (Clare Peter)
http://www.uwec.edu/grossmzc/PETERCA
Civil wars (Rod Kouba)
http://www.uwec.edu/grossmzc/KOUBARV
Sustainable reconstruction & education (Nate Beaver)
http://www.uwec.edu/grossmzc/BEAVERNP
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This website can be most easily read in Explorer, with the
Matura MT Script Capital font for titles. It is best printed out at 90%.
The opinions expressed on this website are those of the students
or their research sources, not of all Geography 378 students, the
instructor, or of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and its
departments. We hope the class website project contributes to
the knowledge and debate around this environmental issue of
global consequence.