Natural Calamities: Are they Really Natural?

Super Typhoons. Earthquakes. Hurricanes. Floods, and others. We often refer to these as ‘natural calamities’.  But, thinking deeply, are these really natural calamities or it is nature’s ways of revenge to human?

Comparing the intensity of calamities encountered by a certain country twenty years ago to the number of calamities each country is experiencing today, most research shows that we experience crueler and harsher calamities today. Many scientists are dedicating their time to find out the cause of such calamities and most result points to one of the hottest topics of today: environmental destruction.

Environmental destruction is common in any place of the globe, from the Philippines to the USA, from China to England, from Mexico to Indonesia, and also to the other countries. The area of the forests decreased. With lesser plants, the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere resulted to an increase of the temperature in the earth’s surface. The increase in the temperature leads to melting of the glaciers in the ice caps of the globe. This resulted to an increase of the volume of the water in the ocean drowning therefore some small islands in the map. The salinity of fresh water was affected; therefore, there is a decrease in the earth’s fresh water.

Due to the continuous destruction of the forest, there are no more trees to get hold of the water when it rains. As a result, there are landslides killing hundreds of people. Some of the soil particles during these landslides are carried to the sea, blocking the pores of the coral reefs and other sea weeds. With the pores blocked, they will die, and there will be no more shelters for fishes and other marine creatures. Without the coral reefs, there are greater chances for tidal waves that could steal lives. This is because big coral reefs serve as a barrier against the strong waves. For instance, a volcano located at the deepest part of the ocean exploded. Chance is that, the explosion will create big waves that could lead to tsunamis. The big coral reefs can slow down the waves before reaching the shore because they will be receiving most the wave’s impact.

These are just a few of the results of the destruction of the environment. And, who are destructing the environment? We must admit that it is us. In this article, the destruction started in the forest, but then it continued up to the ocean. We must then remember one of the principle of nature: everything is interconnected.

With the continuous abuse to Mother Nature, should we still think that the ‘natural calamities’ are really natural calamities? Or is it nature’s way of revenge to human for such destruction? Maybe it is because, if we will stop destroying the environment and restore it instead, then I believe everything will fall to the right place, both human and nature.

Remember: Man belongs to nature but nature does not belong to man.