R.E.M. sang it - I'm believing it, do you believe it? Natural Disasters all over the world....?

Question

It's the end of the world as we know it ( but I don't feel fine )......... these are all the signs that have me believing it more now then ever.

*Worst Floods in Mexico's History

80% of the Mexican state of Tabasco is underwater. Streets have become canals. Pastureland has become floodplains.

*7.5-magnitude quake hits Indonesia's Sumatra

A strong 7.5-magnitude quake struck Indonesia's Sumatra island on Wednesday, sparking a local tsunami alert and triggering panic

*Burma cyclone: up to 50,000 dead and millions homeless, but still no call for aid

Burma was given two days warning of cyclone

*China shocked by 7.8 earthquake

China reports at least 107 dead following Monday's heavy earthquake.

natural disasters have happened since the begining of time but NEVER to this extreame.................

Answer 1

I am 60 years old and something tells me that you are still young. Please, my friend, don't be so negative, you have a long and happy life waiting for you.

Listen, it works like this: Newspapers sell ... paper. We, the readers, like to be shocked. So, the newspapers sell ... tragic news. It's not their fault; it's ours - we ask for it.

Think of what you wrote: If it was true then there would be a relation between meteorological events (flood) and geological ones (earthquakes). You know that it doesn't make sense: the weather can't move the earth crust and vice-versa.

The most difficult task we, humans, have - is to stay on the path of reasonable thinking. We are bombarded with information and if we have just a tiny little bit of cognitive dissonance, we start seeking only information that confirms what we want to think.

If you think negatively about the world and the future, please reconsider it, I beg you!

I grew up in a European country in the middle of the cold war. My father, a NATO military pilot, was much worried about the future. I had to use much of my life to learn this: Whatever happens, we will all live from today to our last day. Let us make it a pleasure and not a pity. Because if we don't do it, no one else will do it for us.

Live well and  be happy!

Answer 2

You don't know what happened 50,000 years ago.  You make these observations based upon what you have seen lately and certain anecdotal information that you are tying together.     The number of dead in Burma is more related to the population density of that area than because of some perceived trend.    The earthquake center is recording earthquake events around the clock but many you never hear of because they may be in remote areas.  The same is true for volcanoes and yes,   even tornadoes in unpopulated areas.

Also reporting of these events by media color our perceptions by the fact that we are bombarded by scenes from large natural disasters.  Storm frequency or intensity has not necessarily increased but our news coverage of these events have.

--- they suck because you disagree with the conclusions..  i am a meteorologist and you are, what?

Answer 3

China must be worried about the same thing. 107 dead from there 3500 million population. They must be terrified.  

More people die from slipping over and hitting there heads on the toliet bowl than that.  Maybe this is the ghosts/spirits slowly ending the world.

I was trying to watch Neighbours earlier, and the satilite signal kept cutting out. Maybe this was a signal of the end of the world?

The sun is shining in England. Is this the end of the world?

You end up in a secure hospital. Would that be the end of the world? Nope.