“The disaster affected 16 settlements over an area 14 kilometers long and 50 to1200 meters wide. This area stretches from the northeast corner of the broken dyke to the settlement of Apácatorna, followed by the Torna creek. The total affected area is more than 1000 hectares, which is divided up as follows: 50 hectares of forest, 600 hectares of crop land and 400 hectares of meadows. As a consequence of the disaster, nine persons died and 225 individuals (some in a critical condition) are still being treated with burn injuries in various hospitals,” said Mr. Attila TÓTH Attaché for Agriculture and Environment for the Hungarian Embassy.

The sludge is waste from an aluminum plant, and is highly toxic. If it makes contact with skin, it burns, and if the sludge is swallowed, can result in death.

Immediately after the spill, the Hungarian Government started cleaning up the sludge to prevent it from causing further damage by spilling into the Danube River. The government is working on building stronger dykes to prevent a similar disaster in the future and removing the sludge without further damaging the environment.

The Danube is Europe’s second largest river and it flows through several countries including Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Moldova, Ukraine and Romania. Many people living near the Danube depend on it for drinking water, irrigation, and fish. If the sludge was to spill into the river, it would devastate both the population and environment around it, and would be the second time that the Danube would run red.

“The Hungarian Government immediately declared a state of emergency in the three affected counties (Győr-Moson-Sopron, Veszprém and Vas). The protective measures were aimed at stopping the flow of the red sludge, reinforcing the dyke, and gathering the red sludge and the polluted materials. As regards the protection of the environment, the main objectives were to keep the highly alkaline pollution within the territory of Hungary, to localize it in the Marcal River and to prevent the pollution from reaching the Danube. To that end, specific emergency water-quality monitoring was immediately launched, and the construction of 7 shallow dams (underwater dykes) was started in different sections of the river in order to slow down the current under the instruction of the water management authorities,” said Mr. TÓTH.

Authorities in Croatia, Serbia and Romania have been monitoring the pH levels of the Danube. So far it seems as if the sludge will not be reaching the countries in amounts that would be toxic if accidentally ingested.

While authorities and environmental protection agencies are focusing on making sure that the Danube stays pollution-free, another threat is on the horizon. According to Vladimir Sakharov, Chief of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), on Oct. 9, 2010 the northern wall of the reservoir had further deteriorated, threatening a second spill. A 3-echelon dyke has been constructer to arrest the potential second spill.

Many people argue that the aluminum plant did not secure the sludge as well as they should have. If it was built stronger, this whole disaster would have been avoided. According the thenewyorktimes.com, the managing director of the aluminum plant Zoltan Bakonyi has been arrested and is being charged with criminal negligence leading to a public disaster.

We are given this one planet that we have to live on. We have to protect it, because once it is destroyed, what do we have then?

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The miners were trapped in the San José mine near Copiapó, Chile. It took approximately ten weeks to get the miners.

Before they were rescued, nobody knew that the miners were even alive. After the mine collapsed on Aug. 5, leaving the miners trapped 2,300 feet below the surface.

Rescuers began to search for a sign of life underground by drilling holes in the ground and sending down listening devices. After a week of searching, they spotted a note on one of the probes. On the paper was written, “Estamos bien en el refugio los 33” (We are alright in the shelter, the thirty-three [of us]).

The rescuers drilled a small hole that reached the miners. They made a chute so that the thirty-three miners could receive the necessities that would help them survive in the mine. The men survived on this for the time being until they were rescued.

The San José mine had a history of being unstable. During the final days the miners were in the mine, they heard noise of shifting rocks. Some miners below thought that the mine was going to collapse a second time. Rescuers hurried to retrieve the miners. It wasn’t until Oct. 11, 2010 the capsule that would save the miners would be ready.

Rescuers finally initiated the launch of the capsule Fenix 2. The capsule would go down into the mine and retrieve one man at a time. Oxygen masks, heart monitors, and video cameras were included inside the capsule.

The rescue was streamed live all around the world. Many people sat in front of a television to witness the rescue mission with their own eyes. Friends and families of the miners waited anxiously for them to arrive. In almost a whole day, all of the thirty-three miners were rescued.

“It was so sweet watching the families reunite,” said sophomore Victoria Molinari. “It was like I was there with them rejoicing.”

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We have been mourning for a week. The high number of deaths makes this a terrible tragedy in Polish history. It is especially important because the crash leaves the Polish government destroyed. We must reestablish our government without many of the people who were leading it a before the crash.

The plane crash has a feeling of repetition with it. We think Katyn is a cursed place for Poland because of what happened in Katyn in 1940. The town held about 22000 Polish prisoners of World War II. These included about 8000 Polish officers form the army. All 22000 of these prisoners were executed and place din a mass grave. This led to many problems between Poland and Russia because Russia did not want to be responsible for these deaths until fifty years passed. The President and his government officials were flying there for the 70th anniversary of the disaster and to show reconciliation with the Russian president.

When we first heard about the crash, we thought it was an assassination because the plane fell by Katyn and because of the tense Russian-Polish relationship, but now we know the plane crashed because of fog. Russia has been very supportive. Many other countries have offered support too. Polish people all over the world have lit candles and said prayers for everybody who died on the plane. We continue to mourn the tragedy, but we are also hopeful.

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2012 is a movie about the expected ending of the world in December 2012. The film goes in depth on the apocalypse predicted by the end of the Mayan Calendar.

This epic adventure begins in 2009 with a huge explosion on the sun. As the movie continues different major events are shown from 2010 and 2011.

Then the movie jumps to 2012 when Jackson Curtis (John Cusack), his ex-wife (Amanda Peet), and his children are saved by Curtis’s ex-wife’s boyfriend who is a pilot and flies the family to safety, as the crust of Los Angeles tilts downward into the Pacific.

All over disasters are happening, and the US declares the end of the world. Jackson Curtis and his family must fight their way to China to survive the massive tidal waves sweeping the Earth.

“The world isn’t going to end with a flood because according to the Bible, God said he would never flood the Earth again,” said sophomore Bola Taiwo.

But is this movie a simulation of what could possibly happen in 2012 or just an idea that is being used to make money and scare naïve souls?

“I don’t know whether or not the world will end in 2012… the world could end tomorrow for all I know,” said senior Adefola Adeosun.

However, the end of the world is not stated in the Long Count Calendar. “The End” is a misunderstanding that Westerners came up with because their own interpretations did not have as much evidence, according to the current Mayan descents.

Author Daniel Pinchpeck popularized New Age concepts about the specific dates in his book 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoat. The ancient Mayans created a calendar that stated the end of the Long Count Calendar would be in 2012.

The various characters, stories and disasters shown in this movie could possibly be the future stories of families in the year 2012. The moviegoers had mixed feelings after the movie.

“The movie sales this weekend for 2012 were outstanding; many of the movie goers were excited about watching this movie. After the movie, their reactions were either scared or apathetic. Some believe that the world won’t end that soon, while others thought of what they should do before they die,” said janitor Oladoyin Olaitan.

According to John Major Jenkins, American author and independent researcher, in the mid-1990s he stated that the world is supposed to end by the Earth aligning with a black hole, collision with a rogue planet, and polar shifts. These claims have been rejected by the scientific community as pseudo-science. The ending of the world in 2012 violates the laws of physics and is contradicted by simple observations.

2012 ends with an ending that is different than the crowd expects.

The movie 2012 was a good movie however; whether the world will end or not is something we will all have to wait to find out.

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“In the Philippines it’s normal to have storms and floods, but when the second flood hit, it caused a lot of damage,” said Alfredo Salmos a native of the Philippines.

According to reliefweb.int tropical storm Ketsana hit on September 23. It affected about 4,320,699 people across the Philippines. Also about 216,941 people were moved to evacuation centers, mostly located in Manila.

Typhoon Parma was the second typhoon within a week that hit the Philippines. Parma made the conditions caused by Ketsana even more unbearable for the locals. The dirty water of floods brought many diseases. According to reliefweb.net, the official death toll stands currently at 311. Among these deaths 238 were caused by landslides.

These storms were two of the worse the Philippines seen in recent years. Parma hit hard because it added to the immense damage already caused by Ketsana.

Parma also hit Manila, the capital of the Philippines, where evacuated people took refuge.

“Even the capital was underwater from the flood,  which is bad because the people don’t have anything to depend on,” said junior Clarisse Concepcion who has family in the Philippines.

Evacuation centers were already shaky and semi-flooded, but Parma made it much worse. Many of these centers were destroyed, leaving more locals homeless, adding to the severity of the problem.

According to nytimes.com, the damages are costing the government 2 billion dollars. A substantial amount of this money counts towards crop and land damage, as well as infrastructure destruction. Other costs that the government has to fund are job losses and transportation.

The president of the Philippines, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, is urging the U.N. and other countries to donate money and give aid to the Filipino people. The U.N said they will give at least 44 million dollars worth of aid, which as been pledged by the international community.

Students here also feel for those in the Philippines.

“I feel bad. I would like to help them and donate money,” said junior Raven Fakoya.

Many people originally evacuated to the capital Manila for safety. Now they can’t even depend on their largest city for help.

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Since climate change is a serious issue, the United Nations’ 192 members plan to meet in December in Copenhagen, Denmark to create another agreement that will be more effective than the Kyoto Protocol. To make sure the negotiations are smooth, some of the UN delegates gathered this September in New York City in order to pre-negotiate and to prepare.

Previously, environmental issues have emphasized saving nature. In the past few years, however, the alarming rate of climate change has caused many human deaths and causalities.

Although the connection might not be clear, climate change is responsible for many of the issues that threaten the world today, according to members of United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and the World Bank. Asthma, other respiratory diseases, desertification, natural disasters, famines, and flooding are only a few examples.

The flood in Istanbul, Turkey, for example, killed eight on September 9 this year. The repetitive floods in Bangladesh, which caused thousands of casualties in the past few decades, is yet another example.

These floods and other natural disasters will occur more frequently if countries continue their environmentally damaging activities, according to UNICEF employee Kerry Constabile. Countries like China, Canada, and the U.S. are most at fault because they are the highest emitters of greenhouse gases, the leading cause for rising temperatures and sea levels.

It might not seem like a concern for the U.S., but climate change is currently harming and will continue to damage developing nations the most. These countries suffer from the footprint advanced nations like the U.S. and China leave on the environment because ultimately we all share the same air, water, and certain resources. It is obviously not fair that the actions of developed nations damage those that are poor and developing.

Adefola Adeosun and Adetola Adeosun at the conference
posing with actor Djimon Hounsou.

“The countries that are the most vulnerable have the least history in carbon emissions,” said author, NY Times reporter, and active environmentalist Andrew Revkin.

Many island nations like Papa New Guinea will no longer exist in the upcoming decades due to rapidly rising sea levels. The 380,000 people living on the Islands of the Maldives live only one meter above sea level. Yet, they barely contribute to climate change but will soon loose their homes and most likely have to relocate to Australia.

While speaking to the UN delegates, the President of the Maldives, Mr. Mohammed Nasheed addressed this possibility stating “We will die. Our country will not exist.”

Besides facing destructive disasters and extreme weather conditions, many people lack basic resources, including useable water and arable land, especially in underdeloped countries like Bolivia and Indonesia.

“People are currently fighting simply over water,” said environmentalist Caroline Howe, referring to the water wars occurring in countless nations and even among U.S. states.

Although climate change is a compelling issue, the most important goal for the UN delegates is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050, but the negotiations happening now and in December deal with agreements that need to be met by 2020.

80 percent is a high number even with 41 years left, but according to World Bank Specialist and former Senior Advisor at the Maldives Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Edward Cameron, the scientific community agrees if that number is not met, we are likely to expect even more calamities caused by higher temperatures that are the result of greenhouse gases.

Moreover, none of the nations that agreed to the Kyoto Protocol fulfilled their 5 to 7 percent reduction requirement.

“If we failed on five percent, how can we reduce 80 percent?” questioned Mr. Cameron.

Surprisingly, several nations agreed to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Sweden promised a 25 to 45 percent reduction, the EU collectively offered to reduce by 30 percent, China by 15 percent, Japan by 25 percent, and a few other nations made similar promises that they plan to meet by 2020.

Sadly, President Obama didn’t commit to any significant reduction; he simply boasted about what the U.S. has done so far and added that the U.S. will contribute to the fight against climate change, only if the rest of the world also contributes.

“How far does the other side have to jump before we move,” asked Mr. Nasheed, implying that countries asking each other to go

first are making childish decisions.

Despite the simplicity of many of the solutions for climate change, the UN faces serious challenges as its members attempt to create an agreement that is this progressive.

Firstly, UN delegates, presidents, prime ministers and other leaders are chosen by their people to represent their respective national interests, and fighting climate change appears to be a global issue that might not necessarily benefit all.

Countries are also arguing that developed nations, as primary contributors of greenhouse gases and consumers of the world’s resources, should be fighting climate change.

“The negotiations are going far too slow, and they are still lacking real progress,” said Mr. Reinfeldt, Prime Minister of Sweden.

Besides disagreements among countries, for many political leaders, especially those with term limits, it seems climate change is an issue that will be relevant to national policy. However, nations that face the repercusisons of climate change today should be leading the race against it.

“They [world leaders] don’t think outside the to-do list for today… It’s not like everyone is going to sign the sheet,” said Mr. Revkin.

“I know deep down you [U.N. members] are not listening,” agreed Mr. Nasheed

If countries fail to act, an already large number of countries will lose resources, biodiversity, and most importantly people, due to the impacts of climate change.

Fortunately, some leaders are concerned and are willing to make wise decisions for the future.

“[Climate change is] a truly global responsibility, said President of the Republic of Rwanda, Paul Kagame.

Despite the lack of action from many politicians, youth around the globe are expressing their concerns about the planet and adapting to climate change.

According to Caroline Howe, college students in India and Connecticut, raised funds to install solar panels at their campuses.

Similarly, students at a German high school were the first to donate to the adaptation fund created by the UN.

After viewing the enthusiasm of young people around the world, UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon and UNICEF selected 13 NY high school students, with diverse ethnic backgrounds and one exchange student from Pakistan, to persuade world leaders to promote eco-friendly policies. These 13 student delegates each wrote a letter about their personal experiences with climate change, and four of them narrated a film to the UN members asking the members to act instead of simply talking.

Later another four of the 13 students shared a luncheon with the spouses of UN delegates, including Michelle Obama, during which they discussed the importance of climate change education.

“They [the first spouses] were so down to earth. And knowing they shared our concerns about education and climate change made the lunch all the more interesting,” said junior from the High School for International Studies in Brooklyn, and student delegate Gabriel Wahab.

Actor Djimon Hounsou also participated by reading a passage from Carl Sagan’s The Pale Blue Dot.

International, national, and local efforts against climate change are essential to preserving the planet because, as Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said, “The consequences will be made more serious for all of us.”

Collaboration is also needed. “We cannot simply accept the situation where part of the world wants to save the planet while others simply don’t care,” said French President , Nicholas Sarkozy.

Although the speeches in the Assembly Hall might have had strengths and weaknesses, hopefully the presidents and delegates had more productive discussions in the hallway and during lunch, where their poltical success is not on the line.

“The most important decisions happen behind closed doors,” said former lobbyist and UNICEF employee, Vidar Ekehaug.

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On September 21, 2009, Iran informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) about a second uranium enrichment facility, already in construction, near the city of Qom.

UN Security Council Resolution 1803 required Iran to cease from any and all uranium enrichment. This includes stopping all research and development of uranium enrichment and centrifuges.

However, Iran is part of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which gives Iran the right to nuclear power. Still, Iran is required to tell the IAEA about the construction of any nuclear facilities. According to CIA.org, Iran has been working on the facility in Qom for years.

“Iran’s decision to build yet another nuclear facility without notifying the IAEA represents a direct challenge to the basic compact at the center of the non-proliferation regime. These rules are clear: All nations have the right to peaceful nuclear energy; those nations with nuclear weapons must move towards disarmament; those nations without nuclear weapons must forsake them. That compact has largely held for decades, keeping the world far safer and more secure. And that compact depends on all nations living up to their responsibilities,” said President Barack Obama in a speech regarding Iran at the G-20 conference on September 25, 2009.

However, according to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and IAEA standards, Iran is required to inform the IAEA about nuclear facilities 180 days before nuclear material is brought into it. Iran is currently compliant to these regulations because according to Iran, it will take months before the facility can be active.

According to President Obama, all countries, including Iran, have a right to peaceful nuclear power that meets the energy needs of its people. However, the size and design of the new facility is inconsistent with Iran’s needs. By doing so, Iran is breaking IAEA rules, and endangering nations around the world.

“I’m not surprised that Iran had hidden these details for all this time, and it is a question of whether or not Iran with nuclear weapons would actually pose a threat to nearby nations,” said history teacher Ms. Tonya Brooks.

In the past, IAEA inspections have found no evidence that Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons, nor does it have the capacity to build one.  Israel, which is not part of the NPT, is believed to be the only country in the Middle East with nuclear weapons.

“The IAEA Director General Mohammed El Baradei met the Iranian authorities in Tehran on Sunday, October 4 2009, and discussed arrangements for IAEA access to the uranium enrichment facility under construction in Qom. Agency inspectors will visit this facility on 25 October 2009,” said Liviu Horovitz from the IAEA.

Iran is now being more transparent about its nuclear intentions. If it continues to be non-compliant with IAEA and NPT rules, the UN may implement stricter sanctions on the nation like they have in the past.

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