(Reyjavik, Iceland)
One thing has nothing to do with the other, but there is an appealing sense of irony that the biggest victim of the Icelandic volcano’s ash should be the United Kingdom.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Missing the plane, missing the point
(Reykjavik, Iceland)
On December 26th 2006 an undersea earthquake off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia triggered a tsunami which killed well over 175,000 people (and possibly as many as 250,000), injured around 125,000 more and displaced well over 1.5 million people.
On the 12th January 2010 an earthquake occurred in Haiti, killing a number of people estimated to be at least 50,000 and possibly as many as 150,000, injuring perhaps 250,000 and bringing destruction to an entire country.
Droughts, mudslides, hurricanes and floods have not only killed tens of millions of people the world over in the last century they have also devastated land to the extent that it has become uninhabitable for many years after the initial disaster.
On the 14th April 2010 the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland erupted for the second time in a month, sending a cloud of volcanic ash into the air over Europe. Nobody died; nobody lost their home. The greatest physical threat came in Holyhead in Wales where fighting broke out at the ferry terminal.
In the west we are largely cushioned from the effects of natural phenomena and we are prone to ignorance on the enormous part that geography plays in poverty. We are also prone to complaining vociferously whenever our tidy little lives are disrupted and to underestimating the power the Earth, which we are attempting to destroy, has over our lives.
It is time to stop whining and wise up.
On December 26th 2006 an undersea earthquake off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia triggered a tsunami which killed well over 175,000 people (and possibly as many as 250,000), injured around 125,000 more and displaced well over 1.5 million people.
On the 12th January 2010 an earthquake occurred in Haiti, killing a number of people estimated to be at least 50,000 and possibly as many as 150,000, injuring perhaps 250,000 and bringing destruction to an entire country.
Droughts, mudslides, hurricanes and floods have not only killed tens of millions of people the world over in the last century they have also devastated land to the extent that it has become uninhabitable for many years after the initial disaster.
On the 14th April 2010 the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland erupted for the second time in a month, sending a cloud of volcanic ash into the air over Europe. Nobody died; nobody lost their home. The greatest physical threat came in Holyhead in Wales where fighting broke out at the ferry terminal.
In the west we are largely cushioned from the effects of natural phenomena and we are prone to ignorance on the enormous part that geography plays in poverty. We are also prone to complaining vociferously whenever our tidy little lives are disrupted and to underestimating the power the Earth, which we are attempting to destroy, has over our lives.
It is time to stop whining and wise up.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)