First the Tsunami, then Hurricane Katrina, then an Earthquake that hit Pakistan http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...AR2005100900368.html , then a mudslide in Guatemala http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9588034/ .

All of these had huge human tolls. Because of this, my friend and I were discussing whether or not us, as humans, had an impact on these events, or if they have always been happening, but with increased media, we have become more aware of them. Any thoughts?

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And Doctor, what is your theory on global warming? (If you posted it somewhere else, just link me.) 'Cause that's not really my area of expertise, and all I hear about is excessive human fault relating to it.

That's because all you probably hear is sensationalist news stories and high school science teachers. Sorry that's not an insult just true for 90% of the population. It a pet peeve of mine, ha.
Truth is, human affect on climate is totally unknown at this point. Yes, anthropogenic shifts are causing some warming, but there is also shifts caused by non-human climate changes, as well as increased solar input. The actual effect and rate of this warming is uknown at this rate, but there are a few possibilites.

Long story short, I'm not convinced that we should make drastic efforts to curb CO2 production, and I'm even more certain that we are not going to cause a "Doomsday climate shift". As for hurricanes, the warming that has occured has been on such a small scale as to be insignifigant in thier formation or strength.

Nearly every geo and evironmental prof at my school holds opinions similar to this. And they're all well respected, mainstream scientists.

But you know, I'm cuirous and like change. If there was a doomsday scenerio, I'd probably let it all go down just to see what happened.

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Originally posted by ICELAND:
Seriously, it seems like there's a huge Guatemalan mudslide every year.

And yet they still don't get it, and neither does their government.

And Doctor, what is your theory on global warming? (If you posted it somewhere else, just link me.) 'Cause that's not really my area of expertise, and all I hear about is excessive human fault relating to it.

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Euterpe once again proving she needs to build herself a time machine and go back to ancient Greece...

Very true. Although..I'd certainly far away from Pompeii. It just cannot be trusted.

Now if I could just perfect that damn time-space continuum.

-----"""The mudslides in Guatemala are nothing new, however those deaths are TOTALLY human caused. They've overforested thier land and built shanty-towns at and on the base of unstable slopes. They die because they live in stupid situations."""---

Seriously, it seems like there's a huge Guatemalan mudslide every year.


In the 1980's during border tensions between Turkey and Syria the Turkish government ordered all of it's citizens to stand outside and scream as loud as possible in a southeasterly direction. The resulting soundwaves caused quakes that damaged many villages in northern Syria, forcing the Syrian government to withdraw it's hostile stance towards Turkey. That's a good example of how humans have caused natural disasters, even though in this case it was on purpose.


-----"""I mean, history has shown us on more than one occasion that weather can wipe us out. Pompeii & Herculaneum, Helike, the two times the Minoans had themselves nearly destroyed..."""---

Euterpe once again proving she needs to build herself a time machine and go back to ancient Greece...

Well there is NO possible mechanism for humans to affect earthquakes. So the tsunami/earthquake stuff is out. The hurricanes are also not connected to human activity, as the factors that actually cauesed them have little to nothing to do with Global Warming, which is only in slight part caused by humans. So that's out

The mudslides in Guatemala are nothing new, however those deaths are TOTALLY human caused. They've overforested thier land and built shanty-towns at and on the base of unstable slopes. They die because they live in stupid situations. We're obviously not innocent of that. Look at all the housing in the country built on flood plains. Hell what am I saying, look at New Orleanes.

Also more on the quake: This one is by no means unprecendented. Check out this article:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3348613.stm

There have been several quakes in the Iran-Afghanistan-Pakistand region that have killed over 10,000 people each time since 1990.

But you know what, I'm crossing my fingers that this IS the End Times (cue dramatic music). The world is so boring now.

yes, I mean more recent years. But I see what you mean by Pompeii...

Do you mean have happened more frequently in recent years (since the big TV boom, population boom, etc.) or since around the industrial revolution?

I mean, history has shown us on more than one occasion that weather can wipe us out. Pompeii & Herculaneum, Helike, the two times the Minoans had themselves nearly destroyed...

I'll stop because I'm not sure what you meant, exactly.