Well that was interesting. A bit of the "furniture" hanging outside our office fell off today. Maybe two actually. I don't think they hit anything in the car park but, wow, it was close. Then we had goodness knows how many aborted landing attempts at the airport today (I work pretty close to the end of the runway). Plus the Manchester City match in town was cancelled due to the weather. So all in all, it is definitely a bit crazy out there.
And today's Northern problems seem to be nothing compared to those being encountered by people down South. Also don't forget the Polar Vortex and the Arctic Winter the USA has been "enjoying". Nature constantly reminds us that we humans are not as important as we are often prone to thinking we are.
I don't mean this blog post as a trivialisation of the crisis down South at all, nor for that matter the other natural phenomena which hit our world from time to time. The events in the news have just given me a nice prompt to lead into this topic.
Personally I do think occasionally that is not a bad thing to be reminded that we aren't running the rodeo here. We have been on this planet for a fraction of its existence (something like 0.004% for modern anatomical humans) yet we do seem to have placed ourselves at the head of everything!
Now I'll admit that from an evolutionary point of view that we seem to have done a reasonable job. No one would really argue against human claims to have had a significant impact on shaping the world as it is today. No species has had the impact we have had. It also isn't a stretch to describe us as the most aggressive species in terms of our relationship with nature, we are undeniably the only species to have attempted to shape the natural world around us to the extent we have.
Some of this is not necessarily a bad thing (think crop cultivation for a start) but every now and then we need a reminder that we are a mere sidekick to the real boss here - nature herself. As proved by the events of this week, nature has no real regard for what we do as a species. She does what she wants, when she wants and we are merely passengers on the ride. Don't forget that a single Super-volcano eruption or a "new flu" pandemic would swiftly reduce the human race to rubble and ruin.
As I said before, this isn't meant to be a commentary on current events nor an indictment of human behaviour. But it is just a little reminder that if nature wants to be crazy, then we better strap in and hope for the best. And if we can do things to keep her temper under check, then that would be a cracking idea all round. That, however, is a topic for another week.
Today's #randomfactoftheday - The largest ship in the world (MS Allure of the Seas) is a mere 50mm longer than her predecessor (MS Oasis of the Seas)
Today's #badjokeoftheday - Whatever you do in life, always give 100%. Unless you are donating blood.
Today's #websiteoftheday - I don't think I've used this before. Rock-Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock - and then some (http://www.umop.com/rps101.htm)
On this day: 1809, birth of one of the greatest scientists to have graced us - the naturalist Charles Darwin
Till next time
DT
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