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Post by [giulietta-off dreaming] on Jan 2, 2006 17:26:08 GMT -1
This is a question that's been circulating my head for a while now.
Has any noticed the high level of natural disasters lately? There was the tsunami last year, then the big earthquake, then these horrible hurricanes just this year. Is anyone finding this sort of odd? To me it seems like there have been more than usual.
Do you think that these natural disasters were caused by environmental problems? Do they just seem worse because of some government's inefficiency?
What does everyone think?
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Post by belladonna on Jan 16, 2006 11:32:36 GMT -1
I think that it's caused by the the general upheating (or what's it called in English). If you look at that really carefully it could explain a lot of natural disasters.
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Post by on Jan 16, 2006 22:07:12 GMT -1
Very quick post...
There are a multitude of causes, which I will list, because I don't have time to write this out all eloquant and pretty. Sorry.
1) There has been a very small increase in natural disasters over the last century. Don't belive all the media hype - It's not nearly as big as they make it out to be. PArtly due to global wamring, partly due to the natural cycle of the earths heating and cooling phases - ice ages and all that malarky. (The earth goes through natural cycles of heating and cooling, hence we get ice ages in cycles. We're well overdue for an ice age, and the global cycle is messed up a bit. BUT. It hasn't majorly affected the number of natural disasters.
2) The media. We now have far more media and news than ever. Things that wouldn't have gotten a mention in the papers - even 40 or so years ago, are now front page news, thanks to new technology, email, phones - a shrinking global culture which means that we ARE interested in things happening on the other side of the world. The further back in time you go, the more self obssessed we tend to be as a culture. Today - a tidal wave in Japan kills 30 people. That would probably make the news. Fairly big news - near the front of the paper anyway. Go back 50 years, and it would be nowhere to be found. at all. I can almost garantee you. As a global culture we are shrinking.
Plus, the media relys on shock/horror factor to sell. Which natural disasters do well. So many of them get blown WAY out of proportion.
3) We're not old enough to compare. Really. We're 16, 17 years old. Thats NOTHING - in terms of looking at changes in society - and in terms of looking at cycles of the earth, we're a mere microscopic squished fly. Looking at ourselves in terms of society - we cannot say that there has been an increase in natural disasters, because we've only just started to notice them. tell me honestly, when you were 8, did you avidly read the papers, and mourn over an earthquake in taiwain that killed 16 children? I am guessing probably not. As children, we only ever heard about natural disasters if they were really really REALLY big - and even then, they tended to be scaled down for us, softened, because we were small. We've only just started to read newspapers, watch the news, see all these disasters happening around us.
But even if we were a hundred, we couldn't really compare. The earth is full of natural disasters, but we only notice the ones in our times. Once the disaster is over, it tends to be forgotten, and loses significance, gets diminshed and forgotten. SO it would seem that we live in an agae of disasters and horror. But that 'aint true.
look at the bible (ok, we're talking about sin, instead of disasters, but theres the same idea) Ever since paul to the modern day, people have belived that they are living in the end of times - sin, famine, disaster, war, plague - but they're not. it's not that the sin, famine, disaster, war, and plague have got any worse, but people tend to forget. Very easily.
4) Plus, you have to remember that every year, the population increases by millions. there are more high tech buildings, more cities, more homes -the world is getting mroe and more crowded. So The same hurricane that hits the gulf in 1800 will kill millions les, and cause so much less damage than the hurricanes in 2005. ALso, this links to the media, and old disasters geting forgotten. The disasters are just affecrting more people, and we're more interested.
I disagree. I don't think there has been a noticable increase in natural disasters.
(phew... you can tell ym dads a scientist...)
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Post by Rosie on Jan 18, 2006 20:34:24 GMT -1
god. well, that's why we love you, anni. very interesting post. i've noticed an increase, but anni as always has made me rethink my opinions
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Post by belladonna on Jan 20, 2006 14:36:31 GMT -1
Inspite of what I said before, I think Anni's got a good point. I'ts true that I've only started to read the newspaper a year ago, and all that. She's probably right about the (almost not existing) increase in disasters too. But I think that (if you look in millenia) we're halfway to a new ice age. So in the next decade's there probably will be another slicht encrease in disasters.
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Post by [giulietta-off dreaming] on Jan 20, 2006 22:49:40 GMT -1
I agree with rosie!
I just noticed at my school, they now seem to be having constant fundraisers for relief and whatever, but I don't remember ever doing it before, and these fundraisers involve EVERYONE, all grades, all ages, and the school starts at PK ( 4-5 years, I think)
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