Wind Directions in Japan for the Geographically Impaired

Too many clueless people. Another person, who knows nothing about Japan, or its weather or geography, takes issue with the facts I wrote in a previous blog post about the prevailing winds in Japan ALWAYS blowing from south or east from April to December and then from the north east in winter. Regardless of season, generally speaking, winds blow radiation (if there is any) away from Fukushima towards the ocean. They do not blow from Fukushima towards Tokyo. That's an impossibility. Regardless of what quacks like Arnie Gundersen say.

LENA HORNE - STORMY WEATHER

Laughingly, a commenter named, "S" (in a lame attempt at wit) writes:

BTW, you piqued my curiosity, so I just took a quick look at the forecast for Fukushima, here: http://www.weather-forecast.com/locations/Fukushima/forecasts/latest It shows today's wind blowing SSW all day --i.e., straight towards Tokyo. You might want to call them, and explain that this is 'impossible.' Have a nice weekend.

"Have a nice weekend?" How cute. I will, thank you. And I will be laughing at you in a few minutes. 

Thanks S. I don't think I need to call the weather-forecast people. This is not a forecasting problem. Their forecast for Fukushima is most probably correct. Fukushima is not a big place. Is, say, the weather report for Ventura California  consistent with the weather in Tijuana Mexico? Probably not. They might be if it were all flat lands, but, alas, for you and your weak argument, there are a bunch of huge rocks called, "mountains" in the way.

The nuclear power plants in Fukushima are on the ocean side, opposite of Tokyo, of those high mountain ranges. Winds often blow onshore from the ocean. This is a geography question and how geography influences weather. 

Some people need to open up a relief map of Japan and see the terrain and just how far away Tokyo is from Fukushima is... And, no, it's not the 1/2 inch you see on that map in front of your face. I guess some people's reading and comprehension abilities are lacking as I simply pointed out in my post, about the geographical considerations when dealing with weather patterns here (or anywhere else in the world for that matter - but especially in a mountainous country).

As a professional in the mass media, I do know how to check and cross reference information. I guess I shouldn't hold others up to the same standard, but it is disgraceful when people aren't intelligent enough to do the very basic level of fact checking - or they cherry picks facts. How embarrassing. I wrote about that here: Critical and Analytical Thinking are Lost Arts Amongst Many of Today's Adult Population

Now, let me blow this stupid argument out of the water. Here is the claim of this reader that, "I just took a quick look at the forecast for Fukushima, here: http://www.weather-forecast.com/locations/Fukushima/forecasts/latest It shows today's wind blowing SSW all day --i.e., straight towards Tokyo."

Refer to this map: http://www.weather-forecast.com/locations/fukushima/forecasts/latest

CLICK ON IMAGE TO SEE LARGER VIEW

My God! He's right! If we are to extrapolate, that wind is also blowing straight for Manila, Brunei, and Adelaide Australia! We're doomed! Head for the life rafts! Every man for himself! 

As you can see, "S" is referring to the wind direction in Fukushima, indeed blowing south, all the while being ignorant of Japan's geography and distance between Fukushima and Tokyo.

Now, let's show his how he doesn't have the faintest idea as to what he is talking about. From the very same weather service. Refer to this map: http://www.weather-forecast.com/locations/tokyo/forecasts/latest

CLICK ON IMAGE TO SEE LARGER VIEW

Well, look at that! The winds are blowing from the south to the north in Tokyo! How could this be? How could the wind be blowing south in Fukushima but blowing north in Tokyo!? 

Well, like I said, this is a mountainous country and geography plays a big part. This reader  cherry picked his data so that it shows winds blowing south IN FUKUSHIMA today, Saturday June 11, 2011 - (while conveniently forgetting to check Tokyo). Fukushima is on the other side of a huge mountain range and 230 + kilometers from Tokyo... Yet, in the bottom chart, from his very own sources, it shows the wind blowing from the south towards the north away from Tokyo.

Just how do we justify this discrepancy? Could it be geography as I showed in my previous post? Seems like the only plausible explanation. Either that or weather gremlins!

"There's no place like home. There's no place like home! 

Oh Auntie Em!"

Also, let's examine further... What about the area just north of Tokyo, Chiba Japan? Well,  sorry about that one too: Refer to this: http://www.weather-forecast.com/locations/Chiba/forecasts/latest

CLICK ON IMAGE TO SEE LARGER VIEW

Wow! Astounding. The winds are blowing north or, later, from the west (as they always do) away from Tokyo! Who'd a thunk it?

Do I need to alert the weather service? Or does dear reader and Arnie Gundersen need to get an education on Japan's geography and weather? 

As I have said numerous times, Japan's prevailing winds blow from the south or the east. For a few months in winter, they blow from the north east. There might be times when, due to terrain, in small areas, winds blow different directions (a walk in a windy hallway in any city in the world can demonstrate that), but these winds are caused and controlled by geography.

Winds do not blow from Fukushima to Tokyo over the biggest and widest and highest mountain range in Japan.

May I now start enjoying my weekend? 

I already started laughing at least five minutes ago.  

Wind Patterns & Rainy Season in Japan

More comments from the peanut gallery about Japan and Fukushima. In my post:

Always Question Motives of What People Say: Arnie Gunderson

I slammed a guy named Gundersen and raked him across the coals for saying idiotic things about winds blowing radiation towards Tokyo:


"I have said it's worse than Chernobyl and I’ll stand by that. There was an enormous amount of radiation given out in the first two to three weeks of the event. And add the wind blowing in-land. It could very well have brought the nation of Japan to its knees. I mean, there is so much contamination that luckily wound up in the Pacific Ocean as compared to across the nation of Japan - it could have cut Japan in half. But now the winds have turned, so they are heading to the south toward Tokyo..."


This is patently false. The winds are not turning south. It is rainy season and monsoon season in Japan. This season has come to this sub-tropical area for millions of years this time of year. The winds do not blow from the north. They never have. They haven't done that since the beginning of time. They won't soon do that, either, in spite of how confused Arnie Gundersen and his fans are. Facts are facts.


Here is a Weather 101 lesson for you folks about monsoons:



 Monsoons are an annually recurring weather phenomenon, triggered by the earth’s tilt in relation to the sun. Although they return every year, it is still impossible to tell the timing, duration, and quantity of rain each season, a fact that leaves impacted areas without accurate storm information. Monsoons are set by land and sea temperature differences. Land reflects the sun’s rays, heating air over land more rapidly. Water is able to absorb a lot of heat without itself changing temperature much, so air over water stays relatively cooler.


    This fact is prevalent in Asia because the northern hemisphere has so much more land than the southern hemisphere, which is mostly ocean. During the summer, the earth is tilted at such an angle that the sun’s rays shine more directly on the northern hemisphere. The heat is absorbed by the land masses, warming the air above it. The hot air rises, and cooler ocean air rushes inland from the southern hemisphere to replace it. (emphasis mine) As it moves, it carries moisture with it, releasing it over land as the summer monsoon (also known as southwest monsoon). The cycle continues as the cooling air creates precipitation and releases more energy. This energy then heats the air, which rises and flows back to the sea, cools, descends, and rushes back to land to replace more warm, rising air. This monsoon is centered over continental Asia.


So, unless the sun suddenly decides to change its position, or the world tuns upside down, this will always be monsoon and rainy season in Japan and, as such, the rains and weather patterns will come from the south.


Even with these facts some people still write foolish comments on this blog that are not verified by data, science or facts on the ground:

Anonymous wrote: 

"I was just looking at the Tokyo weather report at weather-forecast.com. A couple of the wind balls are pointing southwest, from Fukushima to Tokyo. Whether 'prevailing' is an applicable word or not, it appears likely that sooner or later winds from Fukushima will pass over Tokyo. As for me, I have no expertise at all and my motives are pure evil. That said, a couple of the wind balls are pointing southwest."

"A couple of wind balls!?" "Sooner or later winds will from Fukushima will pass over Tokyo!?" How very scientific (and hilarious). Do you have any idea how far Tokyo is from Fukushima? 
Do you know that, besides running the length of the Japanese islands, one of the highest and largest plateau of the Japanese Alps runs between Tokyo and where Fukushima lies? I'm sure that there are "wind balls." But, like with most weather patterns, mountainous terrain will alter them.


Do you know that, if you stood outside continuously sooner or later you are going to be hit by lightening or a meteorite too, my friend? If I keep buying lottery tickets, sooner or later I will win.

Here is a map from Yahoo! Japan Weather that was taken in the last ten minutes. I don't care about your "wind balls," the wind from Fukushima is NOT blowing over Tokyo and they never will. From: http://weather.yahoo.co.jp/weather/wind/ 

CLICK ON IMAGE FOR LARGER VIEW

Red line denotes the prevailing wind. Small arrows show, er, 

"wind balls"... You can see they do not pass the Japan Alps. 

Black line showing Japan Alps. Just north of black line, 

"F" orange arrows and circle denotes Fukushima nuclear power plant. 

Tokyo is black dot. You can see the 

winds arrows are blowing, as always, north.

This next map should put this "winds are blowing south towards Tokyo" lunacy to rest (I can hope, can't I?)

Red arrows denotes part of northern side of Japan Alps. Yellow relief shows highest mountainous regions. Red dot is Fukushima nuclear power plant. As you can see, Fukushima is on the opposite side of Tokyo from one of the largest mountainous plateaus on the entire Japanese archipelago. Also, in spite of what all these maps say, the area marked as "Tokyo" is not Tokyo. I have put a yellow dot where Tokyo really is and marked it with an arrow. Someone send this along to Gundersen... Besides meteorology, he needs a lesson in geography too.

Class is now dismissed. Gundersen and the rest of his failure students stay after school and write 500 hundred times on the blackboard, "For millions of years, winds have never blown from the north-east in Japan - regardless of the season - they never have and never will. "

Want to read more comedy from this Gundersen guy? Read this and click on the link:

Arnold Gunderson, a 39-year veteran of the nuclear industry, stated: “I absolutely disagree with the scientists who say that Fukushima’s not going to hurt anyone. The numbers I’ve seen, from reputable scientists, are that Fukushima is going to kill 200,000 from increased cancers over the next 50 years.”

http://gramercyimages.com/blog1/2011/04/25/fukushima-radiation-a-soft-kill-operation/

As my friend, Andrew Woolner of "JP Quake Info Wall of Shame" says:

I love how he (Gundersen) talks about "reputable scientists" but never names them. Pretty much everyone in the anti-nuclear scene subscribes to the now discredited idea of "internal emitters" and the idea that heavy particles get stuck in one place in the body and cause a lot of damage to one area.

That link, by the way is hilarious. Yeah, watch out for the "globalists" and their "soft-kill" operation...

Always Question Motives of What People Say: Arnie Gunderson

There is a video that might be set to go viral on the Internet from a guy named Arnie Gundersen. It is about Fukushima. There are some glaring mistakes in his testimony. The media hasn't picked up on Gundersen heavily yet, but they might. I think now is a good time to show you why we should be very skeptical of yet another media creation and what s/he says. 

The video in question, as far as I am aware of, was first put up on a site named Chris Martenson. Martenson sells information to investors and recommends stocks and equities. He also has a plethora of online information and seminars that he sells to visitors. There's also a book or two. He is definitely selling an agenda. His site's sub title is: "Information on the global economy, environment, and our energy challenges." 


I went to that site and began to read the article in question interviewing Gundersen that links to the video. I stopped reading half way through the first paragraph. It's obvious that Gundersen doesn't know what he is talking about. The first paragraph reads: 


"I have said it's worse than Chernobyl and I’ll stand by that. There was an enormous amount of radiation given out in the first two to three weeks of the event. And add the wind blowing in-land. It could very well have brought the nation of Japan to its knees. I mean, there is so much contamination that luckily wound up in the Pacific Ocean as compared to across the nation of Japan - it could have cut Japan in half. But now the winds have turned, so they are heading to the south toward Tokyo..."


Right there, I can't stand to read anymore. Besides the sensationalist nonsense that, "It could have very well brought the nation of Japan to its knees." (Sure, and I could win the lottery tomorrow). It is absolutely and definitively false that the winds have turned, "...so they are heading to the south toward Tokyo." That's either an out-and-out lie or Gundersen hasn't a clue as to Japan's weather and wind patterns.


Either way, he's out. If he's a liar, then I don't need to read anymore. If he is clueless then ditto.


From March to December, Japan's prevailing winds blow from the south or east. That means, no matter how you slice it, Tokyo is upwind from Fukushima. It's been that way for millions of years, I can't imagine it changing anytime soon. And, no, it's not a question of today's weather versus yesterday's. Spring and summer bring rainy season and monsoons from the south pacific. These weather systems bring massive rains to the Japanese archipelago. They always begin in the Philippines and move north to Okinawa upwards to Kansai, then Tokyo and then northward where they peter out over the Pacific. 


We just had a typhoon last week. It came from the south. Can someone alert Gundersen that, under normal conditions, and in the real world, typhoons move in the direction the wind takes them and not against the wind .. I don't know about the books Gundersen reads. Maybe he's been hanging out with Michio Kaku and reading his books, I suppose?


There was another thing that bothered me... The above and then when I looked at reader's comments, all of them were angry that Martenson was charging money for people to watch the second part of the video. Martenson loses all credibility right there. 


I severely criticized him on his blog comments section for that too.   


But this is not about Martenson's questionable "recommendations" it is about Gundersen.


If we, the public, are to believe these pundits that we see on TV, etc. Then proper and fair disclosure is necessary. That Gundersen doesn't disclose his financial interests and motivations of commenting on Fukushima makes his remarks to be taken with a healthy dose of skepticism from thinking people. 


Just like, for example, before the Iraq War, when US media put many retired US generals on TV (who were on the payroll of US weapons manufacturers) to promote support for that war, we need to question what possible monetary motivations people have for what they say. Gundersen is no exception. 


As my friend Andrew Woolner of "Wall of Shame", the online Wiki that lists and documents gross and negligent sensationalist reporting concerning the Fukushima disaster wrote: 


Gundersen is much harder to pin down than some of the other fake experts. Unlike Caldicott and Busby, I haven't seen anyone directly challenge him yet, and he's reasonably careful about what he says (although, as Mike pointed out in the comments on this video, he doesn't know jack shit about Japanese weather patterns).

My impression is that his science is reasonable, but he's working from data that he's extrapolated from odd sources  and he makes assumptions that challenge the info coming out of Japan based on flyover videos and his own interpretation of data (like calculating the power of a blast based on plutonium found in Fukushima pref. which is probably left over from the cold war bomb tests). Anyone want to start a google doc where we start listing the claims he makes and debunking them one by one?

Thanks Andrew. Yes, it is time to start debunking this guy. Just like we've blasted Michio Kaku out of the water. 

As far as Gundersen is concerned, here's just some of the story that he probably doesn't want too many people to know. He possibly may have a conflict of interest problem. It's sort of like Fox News. You know, "Fair and Balanced" reporting only goes as far as it doesn't affect their pocketbook. In this case, Gundersen is selling a product and a service. 

Gunderson owns a patent for some sort of protocol that he wants to sell that is used for measuring radiation along with a system for dealing with it and decommissioning those nuclear power plants. He performs these duties with the Fairewinds Association of consultants of which he is co-owner and founder with his wife. It is his company's product and service that he is pushing.

From the Fairewinds Association site:

Arnie is an energy advisor with 39-years of nuclear power engineering experience. A former nuclear industry senior vice president, he earned his Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in nuclear engineering, holds a nuclear safety patent, and was a licensed reactor operator. During his nuclear industry career, Arnie managed and coordinated projects at 70-nuclear power plants around the country. He currently speaks on television, radio, and at public meetings on the need for a new paradigm in energy production. An independent nuclear engineering and safety expert, Arnie provides testimony on nuclear operations, reliability, safety, and radiation issues to the NRC, Congressional and State Legislatures, and Government Agencies and Officials throughout the US, Canada, and internationally.

(snip)

As the former vice president in an engineering organization, Arnie led the team of engineers who developed the plans for decommissioning Shippingport, the first major nuclear power plant in the US to be fully dismantled. He was also an invited author on the first DOE Decommissioning Handbook. Source term reconstruction is a method of forensic engineering used to calculate radiation releases from various nuclear facilities after nuclear incidents or accidents.  (emphasis mine)

So, while it may be hard to see on the surface, Arnie Gundersen definitely has a monetary motivation for what he is saying. His company wants to contract for the decommission of Fukushima and other nuclear power plants. There are many old ones who do need discussions on decommissioning. Fair enough.

The above information is easily found on a Wiki search on Gundersen and then a search of Fairewinds Associates... (I also noticed on a Google search that there was one return that said, "Solar Energy: Fairewinds Associates"... Hmmm/ Another possible conflict of interest?) 

There, on the Fairewinds Associates web site, you can find the name of the product/service that he is selling. Another Wiki check can put anyone on the right track about other possible conflicts of interest concerning Gundersen.... I found this out in 4 minutes of checking.


Perhaps I am wrong to say, "Conflicts of interest". Heck, who am I to  complain when a guy wants to make a buck? No problem. But when that guy uses the mass media to sell sensationalism and to try to capitalize of the public's mood and feelings of insecurity or fear, to garner public support so that he can profit from it, then we have a problem.


That person becomes guilty of dishonesty and loses credibility and respect when they fail to give full and complete prior disclosure of their background to us before giving us important information. In this case, Gundersen doesn't do it... He has repeatedly failed to do so excepting in very small print.


We can't trust what these media pundits or politicians tell us and, now, because we know a bit more about who Arnie Gundersen, is and what he is selling, we most likely cannot trust him completely either.


What Arnold Gundersen, like 99.99% of everything else we see or are told on TV or the mass media is not to be trusted nor taken at face value.

Earless Rabbits? Time to Panic?

耳のないウサギは非常に珍しいですか？　違います。世界中からの耳のないウサギの写真集!
I posted yesterday morning about the panic that is growing about an earless rabbit being found near Fukushima. I predicted that it was going to get much worse. I was right. Last night, I even saw an advertisement for a gossip magazine on the subway that talked about the rabbit. (Ha! Blog beats old school mass media - again!)

Earless rabbit for sale - free! Santa Rosa, California, USA 2011

Well, for your edification, here is a blog post that should blast this nonsense out of the water. It is replete with photos of earless rabbits and links to articles from all over the world since 2003. Earless rabbits are not all that rare of an occurrence! After reading this post and examining the evidence, if you still believe that the earless rabbit born in Japan was definitely born that way due to radiation, then I have a 200 acre, rabbit farm on prime ocean property (with a bridge) to sell you.  

Earless rabbit Singapore 2006

This is another example of mass media sensationalism in an attempt to sell advertising and induce panic. 

Earless rabbit UK 2006

I've done more research and found that earless rabbits are much more common than even I thought. In fact, they are not all that rare at all. Here's proof with links and photos mostly from a rabbit breeders association in the UK.

Earless rabbit UK 2007

In Nuclear Panic! Earless Rabbit Born Near Fukushima Panic Ensues! I wrote:


The fact is that earless rabbits, while sometimes rare, are actually not all that unknown. Here's an article about an earless rabbit that pulled at the heart-strings of the readers of a a famous UK newspaper. He was introduced in What's Up Doc? Meet Vincent the Rabbit Born Without Ears.

Vincent - earless rabbit from UK in 2008

Now, upon further research, I find a breeders association in the UK called Rabbits United with a thread entitled Earless Rabbits.


One breeder asks:


After a debate on another forum,

I thought i would ask the question over here.

Should an earless rabbit (due to overgrooming by the mother when it is a kit) be culled by breeders as " When breeding, you have to cut out the bad ones" ?


Notice that this debate was also going on, amongst breeders I assume, at another forum.

Wild Earless rabbit, Arizona, USA date unknown

Later on in the very same forum thread. There is this (entry #6):


Meet Rosie a gorgeous little earless tri coloured Dutch whose ears were chewed off at birth. She has been coming here on her holidays now for over 2 years and is gorgeous, she is no different to any other rabbit apart from her ears and this doesn't seem to impede her in any way so my answer is a definite NO. She also came from a rescue(where she was born) and her owner picked her because she was different to all the other buns.

Rosie - UK earless rabbit 2009

The evidence is strong that the baby rabbit is question near Fukushima is earless because of over grooming by its mother. Baby rabbits are born underground where they stay for at least a month. Here is information about the interesting breeding habits and bizarre occurrences of birthing of rabbits:

The popular notion of the rabbit's breeding capacity is not exaggerated, for it is possible for a doe to produce a litter of three to six young every month. However, this rarely happens, as over half of the young conceived die before they are born, and are reabsorbed back into the mother's body. As I said above the average production rate is about 10 live young per year.

Earless rabbit Belgium 2003

The young rabbits are born below ground, deaf, blind and without fur. The doe visits her stop once a day to suckle the young and when she leaves she blocks the entrance to conserve heat and as a safeguard against enemies. Within a month the young are capable of looking after themselves.


This means that we do not know what happened with the baby rabbit in question during that first few weeks or so when that baby rabbit was underground. Also, did you catch that part where it said; over half of the young conceived die before they are born, and are reabsorbed back into the mother's body. Bizarre! We do not know of the early days of this earless rabbit, we only know that when it did appear from the hutch it was earless. 

Lillen the earless rabbit Sweden 2007

On the popular Internet photo site flickr, they even have a photo album entitled "Earless rabbit". There are photos of earless rabbits from all over the world there.  


And there's much much more! Here's an actual want ad from the UK Daily Echo newspaper on October 17, 2009 about a person who found, not one, but two earless rabbits and is looking for a home for them:

TWO rabbits are looking for new homes after being found callously dumped at the side of a Hampshire road.

They might not have long ears but they are gorgeous nonetheless.

Holly and Vincent UK 2009

Holly, a grey-coloured female and Vincent, a white male, were found running loose in a lay-by. Their carrying cage was found nearby with the door open. A third large tan and white lop type managed to escape.

Both of the Himalayan – type rabbits are missing their ears but it is not known whether this is a birth defect or whether someone has cut them off.

Using this information that we know to be facts, it is very hard to believe that the earless rabbit born in Namie near Fukushima was born earless due to its mother eating irradiated grass. In fact, it stretches the imagination to even entertain the thought.

Earless rabbit, Japan, 2011 

One earless rabbit does not make a nuclear crisis.... Though one will do nicely to create a panic!








Keywords:


nuclear fallout, crisis, nuclear meltdown, radiation, earless rabbit,  Namie, nuclear, Fukushima nuclear power plants, nuclear accident, earless rabbit, Fukushima,