The amazing Jean Arnold, hub of Post Carbon Salt Lake, has compiled a great slide show to introduce audiences to the idea and implications of peak oil. The one-hour version was shown recently on SLC-TV Channel 17 (public access) — shown again today, Thursday, May 31, 1:30pm.

This one-hour presentation is a good introduction for those new to the whole Peak Oil subject, and sufficiently in-depth for those already familiar with the topic.

You can also watch online or order a free DVD. Send your name and address to:

Bill Haight – Bill.haight@slcgov.com
Technology and Software Support Manager
Salt Lake City – Information Management Services
801.535.7977 Office – 801.535.7634 Fax

Members of Post Carbon Salt Lake are learning to present this show to take it on the road. They will be listed with local speakers’ bureaus soon.

• Jean Arnold is the author of “Another inconvenient truth: peak oil: the rise and fall of oil production,” a comprehensive article from the Catalyst, October 2006.

No, I’m not trying to be shocking. I just caught a little news story last week noting that a monkey in a Denver zoo died of bubonic plague.

Bubonic plague. Would that be the black death? Hmm. Not sure. Jury is out on that one. Jury is in, though, on “bleeding into the skin and other organs, which creates black patches on the skin.”

What is the appropriate response here?

1. Holy shit! or
2. figures.

It turns out not to be as rare as I had imagined (or hoped).

How to prepare? I don’t know. Don’t eat southwestern squirrels, don’t pet mice, don’t get fleas, and don’t play in infectious disease labs. That’s what I come up with so far.

There are times when “positive feedback” is a bad thing. This is one of them. The is the scariest freaking headline I’ve read in a long time:

Yet again, this past week Utah geologists warned that a big earthquake is due along the 220-mile, active Wasatch Fault. The warning isn’t new. It’s due, it’s due, we keep hearing. This time, the warning comes not after minor tembling but after the digging of a deep trench along the fault. The history of the fault becomes more clear as geologists dig through the slipping layers. Five big earthquakes in the past 6,000 years, they say. When I look at the USGS map of most recent five big quakes (magnitude 6.5+), it looks like activity is moving southward. This would put the epicenter south of Provo.

When I look at the Utah Geological Survey map of specific fault zones, I’m in a clear area. I realize that doesn’t mean no earthquake damage. I did mention to my spouse last week that I remember a lot of earthquakes growing up in Hunter (now West Valley City), and I wasn’t sure whether I am less sensitive now, there aren’t so many earthquakes, or we just live in an area where we don’t feel them. Looking at the map, I hope it is the last one. I hope it isn’t just a matter of geologists not caring enough to place a seismograph station nearby. Apparently, there haven’t been any earthquakes in the past week closer than 15-20 miles away.

Resources:

• 29 things to help you survive an earthquake from the Davis School District.
• What to do after an earthquake from the American Red Cross.

FREAKY UPDATE:

Monday night, May 28th, I felt an earthquake. I heard it coming, sounded like a faraway train. It lasted ~2.5 seconds, during which the shaking and creaking of my house moved from the southwestern corner to the northeastern corner. Quite mild. I immediately went to the USGS map above of earthquakes in the past week, didn’t find this one listed (yet), then followed the link for “Did you feel it?” I filled out their “Did you feel it?” form in detail.

So, I guess I have to take back what I wrote about not feeling earthquakes. The key is to be sitting alone in the quiet, with children far far away.

It was a 2.3 magnitude micro earthquake.