Update on the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant: What you need to know about radiation in Pacific Seafood. Created on Tuesday, 17 December 2013 In March 2011, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan suffered major damage when it was hit by a powerful 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami, resulting in the largest nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. On July 22, 2013, over two years later, the Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) acknowledged that radioactive water from the plant continues to leak into the Pacific ocean at a rate of nearly 300 tons per day, causing global concern about contaminated seafood. There are concerns about the local effects of the radiation to Japanese seafood, but radiation from Fukushima rapidly dilutes in concentration as currents carry it across the Pacific, making the risk of human health impacts from contamination along the West Coast extremely low.
Scientists predict that waters contaminated with radionuclides from Fukushima will reach the northwestern American coast by early 2014 (Rossi et al 2013). However, this should not be cause for alarm. Over 865,200 Gallons of Fracked Oil Spill in ND, Public In Dark For Days Due to Government Shutdown. Seeing America From This Perspective Makes Me Feel Like A Total Heel. Gulf Oil Spill. Prevent Plastic Pollution. By discarding plastic thoughtlessly, especially fishing gear and packaging, people are accidentally causing the deaths of millions of mammals, birds, reptiles and fish every year. Since the development of plastic earlier this century, it has become a popular material used in a wide variety of ways. Today plastic is used to make, or wrap around, many of the items we buy or use.
The problem comes when we no longer want these items and how we dispose of them, particularly the throwaway plastic material used in wrapping or packaging. Plastics are used because they are easy and cheap to make and they can last a long time. Unfortunately these same useful qualities can make plastic a huge pollution problem. Studies done locally show about 3 500 particles of plastic per square kilometre of sea off the southern African coast. The plastic rubbish found on beaches near urban areas tends to originate from use on land, such as packaging material used to wrap around other goods. U.S. State Information.