Why are all these natural disasters?

Question

happening now?

Answer 1

This is really not a function of "more" disasters so much as "more" media out to cover it, as well as much faster communication technology and ways to get information to consumers via the web and any number of outlets.

It is easy to perceive a few bad events (the Myanmar cyclone, the Sichuan earthquake) as a symbol that something is amiss.  But keep in mind that in the global scale of things, these are relatively unremarkable events.  This is not to discount the tragedies that have occured and the lives of people lost, it is awful and sad that two incredibly horrible disasters occurred in such proximity to each other.

But look objectively at the disasters themselves, and you find that they are relatively unremarkable in terms of strength.  Cyclone Nargis was a powerful storm, but is not even close to being on the all-time list for powerful storms.  The Atlantic usually sees one or two hurricanes each year that eclipse Nargis in peak intensity.  

Similarly, the earthquake that hit China (a 7.9) was very strong, but by no means unprecedented.  Stronger quakes occur almost every year somewhere on the planet.

Also consider that even until as late as the 1970s, we were beginning to rethink the way we should measure tectonic activity.  The moment magnitude scale replaced the Richter as a method of Earthquake gauging.  Similarly, we have not had reliable data on hurricanes and cyclones until the 50s.  60 years of data is practically nothing when you are talking about the lifespan of an entire planet, and precious little for us to make long-term forecasts.  Typhoon Tip is the most powerful known cyclone in history, but it is likely that a storm at least as strong occurred sometime in the past.

The sad fact is that we had two strong (but not historically strong) natural disasters and they just happened to hit populated areas that were vastly underprepared for them.  It's sad, it's awful, but it happens, and will continue to happen as long as we do not prepare adequately for the disasters that the areas we live in are prone to.

Answer 2

Global Warming?  D Day?  No one knows!  But it seems as if every year they multiply and they continue to get worse and worse.  Think about it!  51,000 are dead in China, it is wayyyy over populated.  31,000 are dead in Myanmar, there is a lack of food.  I dont remember how many, but thousands of people died in Katrina...and Louisiana was full of thieves, crooks, drugs, and all sorts of other things.  It seems that God or the Earth has a way of eliminating things that are causing problems.  The people from Louisiana came to Houston or Texas when Katrina hit, and where was the hurricane right after Katrina scheduled to come?  Houston!  Those people fled south and north and the 2nd hurricane hit south texas!!  Think about it!  The world is over populated so God is trying to make this a better world.  Its a tragic thing that people are losing their family members and things but something has got to be done to help control human population.

Answer 3

Nature is fickle.  If they were predictable, they wouldn't be disasters.