ABOUT FACTS NET Mother Earth

Our world is full of violence. When we first look at the world it looks like quite a peaceful place. There are people bustling back and forth trying to make a living, there are animals that either live wild or are domesticated and maybe even pets and there are insects. I am considering fish as animals for this discussion. We zoom in a little closer and we notice that the people never seem to be at peace and there is always fighting and misery taking place in one or several places on the planet. We also begin to notice that the wild lands where many animals live are shrinking in size. This place is not as nice as we first thought it was.

As we check over the recent record of disasters, both man made and natural, we begin to notice that an incredible amount of lives are being lost. If we just check from the year 1900 forward we find that there were many major earthquakes, several huge wars, severe hurricanes and starvation, along with major outbreaks of disease. Much of what happened could have been prevented. Certainly there is enough food in the world to feed everyone, if it is handled correctly. If we could get the food to the people that need it, hunger would disappear. The problem is that food is being used as a weapon, much as it has been throughout history to get people to submit or even just to kill them off. Many powerful tribal leaders prevent food from reaching the needy. The world just stands back and lets this happen. Oh sure we send in food, but we know it is mostly for show since the major portion of it will never reach the people who are starving.

Wars are something that there is a good chance of preventing, unless you have a madman as a leader. Why must all these alliances always be formed? If a rational leader was approached by the leader of another country who stated that such and such was causing his country problems, why couldn't we work that out? Why must it always be the old game of knock the stick off my shoulder? It seems to me that World War I could have been settled by negotiations, but probably not World War II. How can I make a statement like this? The difference between the leaders in World War I and World War II were that the Axis of the second war were actually looking to conquer the world and were much more cruel than the leaders of the first war. Along with this cruelty, they couldn't be trusted. Another war that was needless was the Vietnam War. If you look at it logically, we lost, they won and things turned out fine in the long run. Why couldn't we have just stayed out, they would have won and things would be the same? Some how we decided it would be a great idea to support a super corrupt regime that was full of drug lords. I would love to know the real reason we were there, wouldn't you?

The receding jungles and forests are becoming quite a problem for this planet. When one sees how fast this is taking place, he has to wonder what effect this is having on the atmosphere. These disappearing trees and plants supply oxygen, so what is the point where we can't get enough and are beginning to drown in our own carbon monoxide? Man has a habit of destroying all good natural things. Precious natural hardwoods are fast becoming things of the past. We are now finding out that the supply of fish in the ocean is not limitless as many species are being brought to the edge of extinction by over fishing. It may turn out that some of these creatures are much smarter than we think and if this is true than we could be guilty of wiping out intelligent creatures. I am talking about some species of whale and dolphin.

Lets take a look at some of these natural disasters. Could any of them have been prevented? If we look at the recent tsunami that killed about 140,000 people, the answer is no. If we ask the question could many of these people have been saved, the answer is yes. An early warning system may have given many of these people time to get away from the coast, thus avoiding the huge waves that crashed onto the shore and wiped out villages. Sometimes even when there is adequate warning, there are some reasons why people just can't leave an area. If we look at New Orleans, site of the recent hurricane, we see a city where people were warned to leave, yet many stayed and died, why? First of all, some people just didn't believe things were going to be that bad and maybe they were afraid to leave their homes to looters. Next were the people that couldn't leave because they were infirm, sick or had no money and lastly, there are the people that never leave. They can be found having hurricane parties and the like. One thing people can do is not move next to active volcanoes. If you live in Mexico City you are near Popocatepetl. It has been puffing smoke and ash for the last few years. In Peru in the city of Arequipa there are 750,000 people living near the dangerous Mr. Misti volcano. Mr. Etna is in Sicily There are many homes in the area. In the last 850 years there have been two major eruptions that have killed about 35,000 people. Bad as this is, the city of Naples is near Mt. Vesuvius. In 1669 the volcano buried 15 villages.

So why do people live near volcanoes, below sea level near the coast, in tornado alley, in hurricane alley, or in areas where there are a lot of earthquakes? It can't be that no one has the ability to leave. We are forced to come to the conclusion that some people must like it.

Zooming out again we realize that this planet of ours is really a brutal place to live. Some people are in quieter places than others, these are the lucky people. The vast majority of people on this planet are just scrambling to survive. If you are lucky enough to live in a place that is relatively civilized and you don't have to worry where your next meal is coming from, you should thank God for you good luck.