Monday, August 9, 2010

Mother Nature Has Something To Say

WE LIVE WHERE we do sometimes by choice, sometimes by birth. Some of the most compelling places on earth are the most threatening. We usually adapt, determined to carve homes in challenging environments. Whenever possible, we settle near water and food resources. We are also drawn to the beauty of the planet that is both nurturing and perilous.

The dancing raindrops on leaves, with its musical pitter-patter, is welcome in British Columbia due to weeks of unusually dry conditions causing hundreds of forest fires. Faraway in Moscow, the smoke is thick from neighboring wildfires. Experiencing an incredible heat wave, the city waits for rain.

In Pakistan, meanwhile, extreme rain flooded some areas, killing over a thousand people. Less deadly, and caused more by melting snow than monsoons, the Red River in Canada swells yearly and brings fear of flooding to the Manitoba prairies.

In southwest BC, a landslide into Meager Creek threatened lives creating a natural troublesome dam. According to earth sciences professor John Clague at Simon Fraser University, the slide can likely be traced to when warm weather melted part of a glacier. But this event becomes miniscule in light of massive mudslides, due to downpours, in heavily populated areas of China.

Near and far, whether it is global warming, problems with manmade drainage systems and dams, or the natural evolution of the earth that puts us at risk, Mother Nature can be bad-tempered in a topsy-turvy world.

Whether nestled by a field, forest, desert or ocean … perched on a cliff or beneath it, Mother Nature warns us to be mindful of where we hang our hats and fold our umbrellas.

Explorers can discover more sites from around the globe at My World.

8 comments:

  1. Definitely looks better than Moscow! Beautiful capture, lovely colors and a great look world! Have a wonderful week!

    Sylvia

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  2. Great shot. We've had lots of afternoon rain here the last couple of weeks (in fact there's a thunderstorm building overhead right now) but it's supposed to get dryer again soon.

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  3. Rain - liquide sunshine.

    Please have a wonderful Tuesday.

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  4. We have welcomed the rain here as well and wouldn't mind a little bit more.

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  5. i love your post. we are in typhoon season, and it's also monsoon--it's been raining everyday. workers have been dredging up the sewer system at my street to minimize flooding. disasters are all over the planet, and i hope people would finally pay attention.

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  6. Nicely said. I did enjoy the rain the other day and felt some 'relief' as it is so dry all around us. Unfortunate about the landslides. Thanks for visiting me on my blog, I was away from my blog for a few weeks but trying to find time now to get back into it! Have a wonderful summer! See you soon. Michelle

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  7. Mother nature can be a blessing or not in the case of Pakistan or Moscow, we are having a couple of weeks of rainy days after a reasonably dry summer (unusual for the UK in recent years).

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