EDITORIAL - Natural entity

Every once in a while Mother Nature makes her power felt. Many in the Visayas and Mindanao felt this during super typhoon Odette last month. In fact, many of them are still feeling the aftereffects, still having no water, power, or shelter.

As if to show that other parts of the world have not been forgotten, the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai undersea volcano, around 65 kilometers north of Tonga’s capital Nuku‘alofa violently erupted last Saturday, sending thousands of tons of ash into the atmosphere and causing a tsunami that reached as far as Hawaii and Japan.

As of this writing yesterday, many parts of that country are still disconnected, so we have no information as to the extent of the damage from the explosion or the tsunami.

Tonga is so far away from the Philippines, so why should we care aside from the fact that a few Filipinos might live there? There is no way we can possibly be affected by this, yes?

Not so fast. According to experts there is no telling how the ash cloud produced by the explosion will affect the global atmosphere in the years to come. Also, considering how the explosion damaged reef beds, marine life in the area may take years if not decades to recover.

Who are we to say we will never feel the effects of this? Take the explosion of Mt. Pinatubo, a volcano in the Philippines that people in other parts of the world never really heard about until it exploded in 1991.

Scientists said the ash suspended in the air from the Pinatubo explosion led to a brief cooling of world temperature by two degrees for almost two years. Just one volcano affected the world, so who is to say we will never feel the effects of the Tonga ash cloud or the lost marine life?

Of course, there is nothing we can do in the face of nature’s power. But it might help to be a little more aware of such power and not tempt fate where ruining the environment is concerned.

It would not be so foolish to think of nature as an actual entity. One that is all-powerful but one that is also prone to the emotions we have, including worry and anger when its creations become threatened, and vengefulness when these are destroyed.

And while humans usually retaliate against those who directly attacked them, nature doesn’t always choose to punish the actual wrongdoers but anyone who just happens to be in its path.

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