AT THE SAME TIME THE
GULF COAST AND THE CARIBBEAN ARE SUFFERING UNDER THE EFFECTS OF
MULTIPLE HURRICANES AND VAST PARTS OF THE U.S. ARE
SUFFERING FROM FOREST FIRES, MEXICO HAS HAD A DEVASTATING
EARTHQUAKE.
PEOPLE HAVE BEEN KILLED, BUILDINGS HAVE BEEN
TOPPLED, WE WILL SHOW YOU SOME VIDEO SHORTLY, BUT THIS
EARTHQUAKE HAS BEEN DEVASTATING --
THIS DISASTER PROBABLY NOT TRACEABLE TO CLIMATE CHANGE BUT
CERTAINLY HAPPENING AT A PARTICULARLY BAD TIME AS BIG
PARTS OF THIS HEMISPHERE ARE DEALING WITH DISASTERS ALREADY.
YOU SEE SOME OF THE IMMEDIATE AFTERMATH.
AND ONE OF THE THINGS
THAT LED TO SOME OF THE DEATHS THAT COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED IS
THAT --
THOSE ARE GOING TO, OF COURSE -- IT MEANS THE BUILDING
CODES ARE PROBABLY LESS RIGOROUS AND SUPPORT PERSONNEL AND STAFF
WILL BE LESS ABLE TO COPE WITH THE EFFECTS OF A DEADLY
EARTHQUAKE.
I'M GLAD YOU MADE THAT POINT, BECAUSE THOSE COMMUNITIES ARE
THE ONES THAT PAY THE GREATEST PRICE IN ALL OF THESE DISASTERS.
THIS, TO THE BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE, IS A TOTAL
COINCIDENCE.
IT'S JUST REALLY BAD TIMING.
AS WE EXPLAINED
EARLIER IN THE SHOW, THE HURRICANES AND TREMENDOUS FIRES
HAPPENING IN THE WESTERN UNITED STATES ARE NOT A COINCIDENCE,
CLIMATE CHANGE MAKES STORMS MORE SEVERE, IT CAUSES THE
PRECIPITATION TO GO INTO THE AIR, WHICH WHEN IT COMES FROM
THE GROUND CAUSES DROUGHTS AND FIRES, WHEN IT COMES FROM THE
OCEAN CAUSES PROLONGED RAIN AND FLOODING AND STORMS, SO WE ARE
KIND OF LOOKING AT WHAT APPEARS TO BE END TIMES KIND OF
SCENARIOS HERE, HIGHWAYS FILLED WITH CARS FLEEING, DEVASTATION
WHERE HURRICANES HAVE HIT, THERE ARE THREE HURRICANES RIGHT NOW
--
AND MORE COMING BEHIND THEM.
RIGHT.
BUT THE EARTHQUAKE IS NOT RELATED TO THAT, IT'S JUST
BAD TIMING THAT WE HAPPEN TO HAVE AN 8.1
QUAKE, THE WORST IN MEXICO FOR THE LAST 100 YEARS.
I WANT TO SHOW YOU TWO MORE VIDEOS, PEOPLE RECORDING AS
THERE WAS GOING ON, LET'S ROLL THIS FIRST ONE.
APPARENTLY THE QUAKE WAS PARTICULARLY SHALLOW, WHICH
MAKES IT MORE INTENSE.
AND WE HAVE ONE MORE VIDEO.
THAT'S A LONG TIME.
THE DURATION OF THAT SHAKING HAS SO
MUCH TO DO WITH THE DESTRUCTION YOU SEE AFTERWARD.
AND NOW UNFORTUNATELY BECAUSE OF THE EARTHQUAKE THEY ARE ALSO
GOING TO BE HIT BY SOME TSUNAMIS, THAT WILL HAPPEN IN
SOME PARTS OF MEXICO, BUT 3 FOOT WAVES COULD REACH AS FAR AS
ECUADOR, NEW ZEALAND, AND VANUATU.
AND 1.8 MILLION HOMES
HAVE LOST ELECTRICITY IN MEXICO.
AND ONE MORE CONSEQUENCE IS THAT
OF COURSE 38 PEOPLE HAVE DIED, BUT BETTER REGULATIONS AND
BUILDING CODES HAVE SAVED A LOT OF LIVES, BECAUSE THE LAST TIME
A LESS SEVERE EARTHQUAKE HIT IN 1985, THAT WAS AN 8 INSTEAD OF
8.1, IT KILLED AN ESTIMATED 9500 PEOPLE IN MEXICO CITY.
THERE ARE
DIFFERENT REASONS WHY REGULATIONS AREN'T THE ONLY
REASON BUT THAT'S A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR.
WHEN BUILDINGS DON'T
COLLAPSE IN THE KIND OF SHAKING YOU SAW THERE, LIVES ARE
SAVED, AND THANK GOD THEY WERE IN THIS CASE.
RIGHT NOW OBVIOUSLY THERE IS SEARCH AND RESCUE GOING ON, I
BELIEVE THERE'S A HOTEL THAT WAS DOWN, THEY THINK PEOPLE MIGHT BE
INSIDE, THE DEATH TOLL WILL CONTINUE TO RISE, BUT
ALREADY DEVASTATING.
AND FINALLY HURRICANE KATIA IS ABOUT TO HIT EASTERN MEXICO.
SO AS IF THINGS AREN'T BAD ENOUGH, HURRICANES ARE ALSO
COMING.