Up to 20 million tons of debris from Japan’s tsunami moving toward Hawaii

[MNeagle]

http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/kc0mB6WJEeuetk9n3uwjQQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NTt3PTYzMA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en/blogs/theenvoy/tsunamidebris3.jpg Debris from Japan's tsunami approaching Hawaii. (KITV/ABC)



Some 5 to 20 million tons of debris--furniture, fishing boats, refrigerators--sucked into the Pacific Ocean in the wake of Japan's March 11 earthquake and tsunami are moving rapidly across the Pacific. Researchers from the University of Hawaii tracking the wreckage estimate it could approach the U.S. West Coast in the next three years, the UK Daily Mail reports (http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/SIG=14n8fd3ig/EXP=1320695673/**http%3A//www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2052576/Japan-earthquake-tsunami-20m-tons-debris-closing-Hawaii.html%23ixzz1bhuKrXSY).

"We have a rough estimate of 5 to 20 million tons of debris coming from Japan," University of Hawaii researcher Jan Hafner told Hawaii's ABC affiliate KITV (http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/SIG=11u948b2q/EXP=1320695673/**http%3A//www.kitv.com/r/29530797/detail.html).

Crew members from the Russian training ship the STS Pallada "spotted the debris 2,000 miles from Japan," last month after passing the Midway islands, the Mail wrote (http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/SIG=14n8fd3ig/EXP=1320695673/**http%3A//www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2052576/Japan-earthquake-tsunami-20m-tons-debris-closing-Hawaii.html%23ixzz1bhuKrXSY). "They saw some pieces of furniture, some appliances, anything that can float, and they picked up a fishing boat," said Hafner. The boat was 20-feet long, and was painted with the word "Fukushima." "That's actually our first confirmed report of tsunami debris," Hafner told KITV (http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/SIG=11u948b2q/EXP=1320695673/**http%3A//www.kitv.com/r/29530797/detail.html).

http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/9p62qIq35p5EhUYXDsJi2w--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NTt3PTYzMA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en/blogs/theenvoy/tsunamidebris4.jpg Crew on Russian ship STS Pallada spotted the debris almost 2,000 miles from Japan, including a fishing boat from …




http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/itILcVk1L1lYGdal2pWf4Q--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NTt3PTYzMA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en/blogs/theenvoy/tsunamidebris.jpg Researchers say up to 20 mn tons of debris from Japan's March 11 tsunami could reach U.S. West Coast in three years. …



The 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami that hit northeastern Japan on March 11 has left some 20,000 people dead or missing.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/envoy/20-million-tons-debris-japan-tsunami-moving-toward-143640503.html

[beefsteak]

Yahoo took the word "radioactive" out of that headline I see.....

[k-os]

Yahoo took the word "radioactive" out of that headline I see.....

Perhaps I am a bit too optimistic . . .but wasn't the debris washed out to sea before the nuclear plants started spewing radiation?

Either way, it's a horrible thing to happen to Hawaii, and eventually the entire west coast of the US. All of that coastline, now with massive amounts of possibly radioactive garbage.

So many times lately, I am ashamed of what our technologies have done to this planet. It's depressing.

[beefsteak]

Good Question, k-os.

And yes, it is sobering to face what we collectively must face, regardless of boundaries, geographic or geopolitical in nature.

[Osaka]

The debris was washed out to see about 24 hours before the first radioactive venting, and about 25 hours before the first explosion at the Dainichi plant, the relatively contained explosion in unit 1. The other units exploded a few days later, so it is a matter of which direction the wind from the Dainichi plant vs which direction the ocean currents were moving. Also, obviously the debris has been subjected to regular rain and waves which could have washed radioactive material from the debris.

[Down1]

West coast scrappers must be happy.