The power.
Yes, the powers in this world are above and beyond our control.
Perhaps one of the greatest forces of Earth is the weather. It can bring any number of things, from tornadoes to blizzards, to fires, to earthquakes and volcanoes. Monsoons. Typhoons. Tsunamis.
Did I mention drought?
Yet, the worst of them all, believe it or not, is the heavy rains and the flooding it brings.
Let me tell you this. On today’s date, September 27, 1887, the Yellow River or Huáng Hé flooded in China. The disaster killed between 900,000 and 2 million people. It went on record as one of the deadliest natural disasters in history.
But imagine living there at that time. And if you happened to be one of the survivors? What an impact that must have been, with more than a million lives lost.
Oh, what a planet we live on. Just the natural way of this world can cause havoc. And now that we humans have gone and screwed up the health of the planet, the climate will be screaming back at us for a long time to come. Worse than we have ever known in history.
As it is, the number of deaths from natural disasters can vary greatly from year-to-year. But, if we average things out over the past decade, all around the globe, approximately 45,000 people die from natural disasters each year. So there it is.
Floods are the deadliest, it seems.
The worst disasters of all time? Floods. The top five are:
500,000–4,000,000 people dead — 1931 — China
900,000–2,000,000 — 1887 — Yellow River flood, China
500,000–800,000 — 1938 — Yellow River flood, China
229,000 — 1975 — Banqiao Dam failure and floods, China
145,000 — 1935 — Yangtze flood, China
Three things come to mind with all of this.
1. Loss.
2. Need.
3. Damage.
1. Loss. To experience the loss of life is most likely the hardest thing we ever have to go through. Recently, in a very short period of time, I lost three friends. As I examine my own feelings in this, I’ve found that I reacted differently in each case. The feelings that arose in me came on their own. I did not conjure or will them to come about in the way that they did. Those feelings arose on their very own. I was amazed at how unique they were with each friend I lost. But it makes sense. Our relationships were different and existed to varying degrees. And so it went.
2. Need. This is more about the natural disaster of flooding. We need the rain to survive. We need it for life itself. And yet? Too much rain can be deadly. This may be the case with everything on the planet. As my father used to say, “Everything in moderation.” If only.
3. Damage. And this is about our sins against the planet. Our damaged climate.
This topic should be at the top of every news broadcast, on every station, worldwide, every single day. It should be the first thing we talk about at the dinner table. It should be the first thing uttered by teachers at the start of every class, from biology to wood shop. Yet, as a collective community of the planet, we are mostly all just shrugging our shoulders and shaking our heads when we should be marching in the streets and demanding that our leaders start taking legislative action against the biggest culprits. Instead, we lobby for getting more guns and banning abortion. None of it will matter soon because our planet is dying from the damage done.
That might be our biggest disaster.
I recently talked to a younger person in their 20s. They said, basically, they were not overly concerned about their career moves because in ten or so years, the planet will be completely destroyed, and it won’t make a difference, one way or the other.
I don’t like to leave you on such a down note.
So there is this.
If we continue to think and act in a kind and loving manner in our everyday workings of things, that energy will expand both inward and outward. And if we think and do things, even little things, to help the planet?
We are certainly helping the planet. And one another.
I am thankful for today.
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“Preservation of our environment is not a liberal or conservative challenge, it’s common sense.” – Ronald Reagan
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“If you really think that the environment is less important than the economy, try holding your breath while you count your money.” – Guy McPherson
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“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed.”- Mahatma Gandhi
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