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Nice Weather We’re Having, Huh?

By admin | May 31, 2008

If it seems like the rate of natural disasters is increasing lately it isn’t just your imagination. According to the Insurance Information Institute, in 2007 we saw the largest number of disasters ever recorded at 960 that year. And while the first half of 2008 is just off that pace, in terms of financial cost it has already surpassed the previous year. Of course, it would take a lot to top 2005, the year Hurricane Katrina’s $120 billion in damage contributed to a global loss of $210 billion. And then there’s the cost in terms of human lives: 150,000 people died in natural disasters worldwide so in the first half of 2008 alone.

Whether the current rate of natural catastrophes is higher than at other times in history is hard to say because they didn’t used to keep the kind of records we do today. But what is certain is that when ecological disasters strike our highly advanced and integrated civillization, they cause waves of suffering that continue to ripple throughout society for months or even years.

Just ask the many Americans who still haven’t recovered from Katrina. And their suffering pales in comparison to the countless children who were orphaned by the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami.

Even those who aren’t directly impacted by natural disasters bear the cost certain extent. When that much humanity and wealth is destroyed we all lose something. Maybe it’s increases in insurance premiums or taxes. Maybe we donate to relief efforts instead of investing in our own security. Maybe we just suffer a loss of peace of mind knowing that people are suffering–and that the same thing could happen to us at any time.

And that is possibly the greatest cost of all. Sure, we all seem to forget about the latest natural disaster as soon as it’s out of the news. (Remember the Mississipi floods back in June 2008? They probably haven’t crossed your mind since, right?) But the seemingly neverending stream of reports accumulate in our collective subconscious, telling us that we can never really relax. Disaster could strike at any moment.

But even though most people probably suffer from a nagging uneasiness about the possibility of disaster, I suspect that relatively few really appreciate the true potential of a real mega-catastrophe. Because as devastating as some of these recent disasters have been, they pale in comparison to what nature has dished out in the more distant past–and will dish out again.

Remember the volcano Krakatoa that exploded in 1883? No? Well, it exploded with the force of 13,000 atomic bombs, causing major changes in global weather patterns. And that wasn’t the first time. It has exploded periodically throughout history. Another supervolcano that could pack the same wallop is Yellowstone Caldera at Yellowstone National Park. It has had three major eruptions that occurred 2.1 million, 1.3 million and 640,000 years ago. Do the math and you’ll see that it’s due to go any time. Of course, it could be 50,000 years before it blows again. Or it could be set to go right… about.. NOW! We just don’t know.

But whether it’s a supervolcano, a giant tsunami that swamps the coasts of the U.S. and Europe simultaneously, a Richter 10 earthquake that shatters California, an asteroid impacting a major city, mutating bird flu pandemic, weather disruptions due to global warming, or countless other very real possibilities, we must realize that we are all just tiny specs at the mercy of natural forces far beyond our control.

Will our civilization be slowly beaten down by an endless battering from run-of-the-mill disasters like the kind we read about every day in the news? Or will we be knocked out in a single blow by one of the random big ones?

We can’t know when or how it will happen. All we can know is that sooner or later, it will.

P.S. Sorry for the gloom and doom. For some more positive perspectives on the subject, see these sites:

Topics: Weather |

Nice Weather We’re Having, Huh?

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