Not a New Phenomenon

All of the above pictures are natural disasters. These horrible events have been happening since the beginning of time. Some years more occur than other years. The U.S. Geological Teams have reports of this fact based on when historians first began recording events. They insist that weather related disasters come about when certain atmospheric conditions are present. For example truly massive flooding occurs around the world, usually every 100 - 200 years in different geographic locations. The cause is likened to what they term as atmospheric rivers which are narrow bands of water vapor about a mile above an ocean that may extend for thousands of miles.

Hurricanes have a 'season' for a reason. The ocean water warms to certain temperatures, some years higher than other years; add in other conditions and we end up with many hurricanes in a particular location. Other years, there may be none. There are no crystal balls to predict when the year of the hurricanes will hit nor where they will hit. Each early Spring, meteorologists come out with predictions that it will be a catastrophic year for major storms. Why not? They have a 50/50 chance of being correct. 

My brother used to work on off-shore drilling rigs in the Gulf. He would have late summers and falls where there were rarely any evacuations off the rigs and then other years it almost seemed like a weekly event with the threatening tropical storms and/or hurricanes approaching.

With hurricanes, of course, come the torrential rain, storm surges and tornadoes. There is a warning for hurricanes and tropical storms. It just seems that not everyone takes them seriously. If one lives on the coast, any coastline, be prepared to evacuate. Have a plan in place. 'Things' can be replaced. Lives can't. 

Blaming global warming on the reason for all of the tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires, tsunamis, earthquakes and any other natural disaster is the trend nowadays. I, for one, tend to be a little bit skeptical. The question that comes to my mind is then how long has global warming been going on since recorded hurricanes, many in one season, have been recorded for over 200 years. (probably longer, this was as far back as I searched) As for the wildfires, most were discovered to be caused by humans not using common sense with their camp fires or fireworks.

I am not exactly sure why I chose this particular topic to write about today, except that with Hurricane Harvey and then Irma just passing through, it was on my mind. Also, on my mind was what happened on this date, September 11, 2001. This was not a natural disaster. Although, we can't control Mother Nature's forces, it also becomes difficult to control forces of terror. Governments are trying to put what they know in place to help prevent some of the terrorist groups from causing vast destruction and death. It has not put an end to their evil ways, although it has deterred some. 

These are the times that we must come together as a community, as states, as countries and the whole world to help one another. As stated by Jack Ma, "There are big problems that change the world. If we are working together, that will make us understand each other, appreciate each other, help each other."