Emily Nguyen Week 10 Power of Nature
Emily Nguyen
Week 10
Power of Nature
Upon surfing the web in attempts to find a blog topic, I came across various natural disasters, such as tsunamis, earthquakes, floods, etc. Frequently searched questions on Google have asked about the most powerful thing on Earth. (The answer was gamma rays, but for the sake of having something easier to write about, I chose to write about Earth's natural disasters.)
We often think of power as a concept and a social construct amongst people, but one thing that is out of all humans' control is nature– including California's unpredictable weather, droughts, floods, and much more. Of course, we have contributed greatly to the severity of climate change, which has had a serious impact on the frequency and extremity of such disasters. However, apart from the nearly irreversible damage done, the rest of what mother nature has in store for us cannot be prevented.
Snow storms have created the idea of snow days, shutting down schools. Fires have the ability to destroy tens and thousands of acres of forest. A simple tornado has the ability to devastate hundreds of lives within minutes. However, sunlight is what fuels the lives of plants, animals, and people. We consume what nature provides us. Nature is what gives us life, but also has the ability to take lives. It is unpredictable, and truly several times more powerful than man. At the end of the day, a person's political power, social status, or wealth won't matter the moment an asteroid hits and obliterates the Earth, because the power of nature is far superior to power amongst people.
Thank you for making me laugh with your comment about gammas rays. This blog post made me re-value the time I have in my life. You reminded me that I could be killed by a natural disaster at any point in time, which is scary but reality. Hopefully I will start valuing my everyday life and actions to a greater extent and embracing the unpredictable events caused by nature.
ReplyDeleteHey Emily, I yhink this was a pretty unique take on power as nature is typically the last thing that comes to mind when thinking of power. The immediate connotation of nature is generally positive but it is also the one thing that has the most uncontrollable power over us. It’s a good reminder that regardless of how much wealth and fame one aquires, no one is ever truly one hundred percent in control over their own lives. Accepting this fact will hopefully help ease our desire for power and allow us to just enjoy our lives.
ReplyDeleteWow, you are right how nature is probably the most powerful thing on earth, but sadly we are destroying it. I also agree that nature is unpredictable so we should value our life on earth. Moreover, the weather and temperature in Mars are not getting better, so humans have to act to combat climate change sustain the climate on earth. If we lower the threat of climate change, maybe nature will be more predictable and work in our favor.
ReplyDeleteHey Emily,
ReplyDeleteI believe that the reason nature is so powerful is not because it is a single enormous entity or force but because it is infinite components working together in perfect harmony. The bond between every aspect of nature is above anything the human mind is capable of understanding. The more we learn about nature, the more we appreciate it. We sum it up into that singular word of "nature" simply because describing what it resembles would take more words than we could ever say. If we spent even half the amount of time learning about the power of nature as we do blindly harvesting it, then we would be able to find millions of new ways to live sustainably.
Hey Emily! I very much loved your take on power as I never thought one could connect nature and power. It’s honestly scary to sit and think about the fact that a natural disaster like a tornado or earthquake could take our lives away from us or at the very least everything we love. We are blessed with such privileged lives, but one natural disaster later, it can all be taken away from us. Your post definitely reintegrated the value of life into my mind and made me realize how important it is to enjoy the present instead of spending time worrying about the past or future. Thanks for the reminder and joke on gamma rays :)
ReplyDeleteHi Emily! Your blog posts never fail to make me laugh. I realized that we have all be focusing on the powers held by people and overlooking the power of nature. You have really brought our attention to the strength and intense impact of natural disasters. This reminded me of the film that we recently watched in class and the damage that was caused by Hurricane Katrina.
ReplyDeleteHi Emily! I loved your lighthearted yet informative take on the greatest danger. Mother Nature is so dangerous and it's really crazy seeing how much havoc and devastation she can cause on various parts of the world. I'm glad that in my lifetime I haven't experienced a great earthquake (which is expected to happen sometime in my lifetime) but having seen so many hurricanes and their terrifying effects, I certainly understand and will forever respect the power of nature.
ReplyDeleteHi Emily, you bring an extremely valid point. Nature is more powerful than any human on Earth. We’ve seen it over and over. We can’t control the weather, or natural disasters. Your blog reminded me of how California is overdue for a giant earthquake, which is a scary thing to think about. Natural disasters could wipe us all out. We can only control our relationship with natural disasters and our reaction to them, as well as how we rebuild. Lives are almost always lost in serious disasters. We can only mitigate the loss, and that too up to a certain extent. Because like you said, an asteroid can just end everything.
ReplyDeleteHi Emily, we have the power to decide the fate of our species. We can either continue to pollute and destroy the Earth's ecosystems or we can change and adapt our essential systems to live in a sustainable world. Humans are ecological serial killers, ever since we started using rocks in caves. We have all the power in our hands, and it's disappointing to see so many educated leaders all over the world to fail to use it for good. Just like you mentioned, we're already starting to see the effects of our lax commitments to stopping climate change.
ReplyDelete