Natural Disasters

You may not have heard, but back in June a hoax went around, warning against earth’s supposed impending doom—which (they said) should have destroyed us all by September! Rumors about a stellar cataclysm were “shared” around social media (and oddly enough, gathered some “likes” along the way). Surely, if it appeared on Facebook, Huffington Post or Before It’s News, it must be true… right? In fact, however, whether by comet or man-made catastrophe, the end of the world is no trivial matter—so why should it be treated like one?

A sobering headline from a recent news article read “Extreme Weather Watch: August 2015—The Western US Burns Up” (San Diego Free Press, September 8, 2015). This year, over eight million acres have burned, primarily in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and California (National Interagency Fire Center, September 6, 2015). Firefighters have come from around the globe, and the U.S.

This year is shaping up to be a record year for hurricanes or typhoons. “NASA’s Terra satellite saw Hurricanes Kilo, Ignacio, and Jimena, all Category Four Hurricanes, lined up across the Central and Eastern Pacific Ocean on August 29 at 22:25 UTC (6:25 p.m. EDT). This is the first time there have been three active hurricanes in the Eastern or Central Pacific Ocean this season, and they’re all major hurricanes” (NASA, August 30, 2015).

The New Yorker recently discussed the potential of a major earthquake in the Cascadia Subduction Zone—between northern California and Vancouver Island (July 20, 2015). The Zone packs far greater energy than the famous San Andreas Fault to the south. The author writes “An earthquake will destroy a sizable portion of the coastal Northwest. The question is when” (ibid.). This overdue quake could range in magnitude from 8.0-9.2.

Some news reports grab your attention and will not let go—particularly when they involve some desperate situation that affects masses of people. We see many such epochal forces going on now with massive flooding across the South in the United States, resulting in widespread property damage and loss of life. Yet a few hundred miles away from some of the affected areas, California—America’s most populous state—parches in prolonged drought.