Tsunami - Hell hath no fury like nature scorned

[Dinyar]

We are usually able to see the value of nature only from an anthropocentric point of view -- what's in it for us humans? The recent tsunami is a perfect illustration of the consequences of a narrow focus on "economic development" at the expense of the environment.

To be sure, the Indian Ocean tsunami was so massive that it created devastation even in relatively remote and unspoiled areas. But where coral reefs and mangrove swamps were relatively intact, it seems the loss of human life was minimal; where these were ripped out to make way for beach resorts and shrimp farms, the loss of life was much greater.

The poor lose twice: first when they are displaced by commercial interests from the environment they depend on for their subsistence, and second when they are swallowed by the waves. Beneath the surface of this "natural disaster" is a man-made disaster, one for which we all bear some responsibility. Until we decide to do something about it.

Dinyar

For more on this topic, see:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=s ... &e=1&ncid=

http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/001835.html

[retro_gk]

The same thing happened in Orissa and Bangladesh wrt cyclones...we never seem to learn

[troi]

Beneath the surface of this "natural disaster" is a man-made disaster, one for which we all bear some responsibility. Until we decide to do something about it.

I think this is about right.

WHAT can we do? Education doesn't always do what we think it will when there is an immediate money incentive. Sheesh, look at US policies in the face of all that environmental info. Look at the withering of services in the US, the loss of jobs here, as business outsources or imports cheaper just to fill our land fills, mess up our, and everyone else's air, to give us diseases the rest of the world just doesn't suffer as much.

We all have seen this coming for nearly 30 years, but...

troi, the tired cynic