Hurricane Tomas strikes down on the Caribbeans, killing dozens.
Hundreds of people are killed in a cholera outbreak in Haiti.
Central Java is evacuated after Mount Merapi repeatedly erupts.
Flight 883 crashes in Cuba, killing all 65 aboard.
Super typhoon Megi devastates the Philippines, killing 10.
A Chinese coal mine explodes, 20 people die.
Burst pipeline in Iran kills 10 people.
Twelve. Hundred. Sixty-five. Ten. Nine. Twenty. Ten.
What then, is the value of one?
It's becoming increasingly clear that our world is slowly becoming unhinged. Natural disasters have never been this frequent and devastating before. These climatic catastrophes have pushed us to the brink of a potential environmental collapse. And when we're not being badgered by nature's follies, we're fighting pointless wars that further destabilize our already unstable predicament.
After millions of years of evolution the only genetic divide that seperates us, is skin colour. Regardless, we still find ways to hate each other over such trivial matters. Over the years, with each newly discovered continent, with each newly conquered tribe humans grew closer together. Our world kept shrinking until there were no hidden places left on Earth. No stone was left unturned, no sea left unsailed and even the skies could not temper our urge for exploration and mastery of our world.
After millions of years of evolution the only genetic divide that seperates us, is skin colour. Regardless, we still find ways to hate each other over such trivial matters. Over the years, with each newly discovered continent, with each newly conquered tribe humans grew closer together. Our world kept shrinking until there were no hidden places left on Earth. No stone was left unturned, no sea left unsailed and even the skies could not temper our urge for exploration and mastery of our world.
In our many years on this blue marble we've seen it all: from the cradle to the grave and all the joys and miseries in between. Yet the tragedies keep piling up. Sure, there hasn't been a world war in over half a century, but does that mean our world has become safer?
The 21st century has been declared the age of terrorism and environmental crises. It just makes you wonder, with twenty-something prior centuries under our belt, when will there be an Age of Peace? No wonder post-apocalyptic fiction and disaster movies always seem to draw quite the crowd.
At least the disaster tourists will have something to look forward to: 2012. I personally, believe in the 2012 phenomenon. It might not be the destructive force that Emmerich envisioned in his interpretation of the event, but I do believe something will happen. Whether or not this will be a benevolent of malevolent something is yet to be decided. Hopefully, I'll still be here to say 'Told you so' if I was right and 'Well, I guess I was wrong' if you guys win.
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