Natural and Human-made Disasters Portend Future of Toxic Catastrophe
It appears that an unknown number of underwater frack wells are leaking into the flood waters tearing through Colorado. Although local activists have sent emails with photographs documenting toppled industrial tanks, there has been no response from media or authorities.
According to one activist, “There has been no mention of the gas wells on the Denver newscasts either last night or this evening although all stations have had extensive and extended flood coverage. You can see underwater wells in the background of some of the newscast videos, and yet the reporters say absolutely nothing.”
Torrential rains have led to days of flooding across the state, and 500 people remain unaccounted for. At least 4 people have died.
According to Brad Udall, director of the University of Colorado, Boulder’s Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy and the Environment, the floods are likely resulting from a combination of drought-hardened soil, wildfires that remove vegetation, and unusally strong rains due to warmer air that more holds moisture in clouds. “As the climate warms further, the hydrologic cycle is going to get more intense,” he told National Geographic, “Between the fires last year and this year, the unprecedented and continuing drought in the Colorado River, and now this shocking event,” he continued, “climate change feels very real to me.”
As climate change gets worse, disasters will increase. Fukushima may be just the front end of what’s down the pipeline for Earth.
