Is Mother Nature Sick And Tired of being Sick And Tired?!? Is Earth sending us WAKE UP calls?!? This is Serious... We have a Responsibility to CARE!

I've been avoiding this subject all week. I honestly don't understand why, perhaps because I'm feeling a little strange about it? The weather has been freaky all over the World. Such as a freak Cylcone that just hit Australia, volcanic eruptions in different parts of the world within days, massive flooding in many parts of the world caused by torrential rains and strong earthquakes jolting many countries.

I say freaky because how often do you hear about a cyclone hitting anywhere other than a movie?! I wrote about this on HP two months ago. I wasn't sure what was going to come first, a natural disaster or a financial disaster? It appears that Mother Nature will have her say... I don't see or feel her being out done by MAN...

I feel that these natural disasters reflect the TRUTH about us, Humanity. They reveal how we treat each other in times of crisis. They reveal the TRUTH about our government (local and federal) preparedness to handle such a crisis. This holds true all around the World not just the United States! I mean look at how Hurricane Katrina and the Indian Ocean Tsunami were handled for example. I'm not posting this information to scare you. NO, I'm posting this information to make YOU aware of what other people around the World are going through right now...

Volcanic Eruptions:

January 9, 2007 The activity of the Tungurahua volcano, located in the Andean region of Ecuador, has increased. During the first weekend of January alone, more than four explosions were registered per hour. The overall activity of the Tungurahua volcano appears to be intensifying particularly as increased explosions have been registered in the last few days. On the 6 January, nearly 1,000 people were evacuated due to the intense volcanic activity, as a preventative measure.

January 8, 2008 12:13:31 PM UTC a change occurred in the eruption status of Volcano Miyake-Jima in the unpopulated region of Japan in JAPAN.

January 6, 2008 A volcano erupted in Sai Chung Island east of Kyawk Phyu town in Burma's western Arakan state last Saturday. Villagers have fled their village local villagers said. Till today January 8, 2008, the lava is still overflowing. And fearing that there might be more eruption, local villagers are fleeing from the village.

January 6, 2008 12:28:04 PM UTC a change occurred in the eruption status of Volcano Nevado Del Ruiz in the very highly populated region of Colombia in COLUMBIA. Orange ALERT!

January 5, 2008 PUEBLA, Mexico (AFP) — Mexico's Popocatepetl volcano put on a spectacular show Saturday, spewing out a huge, billowing cloud of ash and steam eight kilometers (five miles) high, but creating little danger, officials said.

January 2, 2008 Rescue workers evacuated 54 tourists and staff from a Chilean wilderness park on Wednesday after one of the country's largest volcanoes erupted, spewing ash and molten lava. Before the eruption, people in the towns closest to the volcano said they heard loud underground noises. Chile is home to the world's second largest and second most active chain of volcanoes, after Indonesia.

December 19, 2007 An eruption of the most northern active volcano in Kamchatka, Russia – Shiveluch occurred this night and appeared to be one of the most powerful eruptions of the recent years. Powerful flows of ash were coming from the volcano crater along with gas flows and fragments of magma substances with the temperature reaching 800 degrees Centigrade.

December 4, 2007 A volcano on a small uninhabited island in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen erupted again on 3 December after previously erupting on 30 September 2007

November 11, 2007 Indonesia's Anak Krakatau volcano lets out a massive roar as it blasts a gigantic cloud of smoke and flaming red rocks hundreds of metres into the night sky.

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Global Earthquakes:

January 10, 2008 A powerful earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale struck northern Algeria on Thursday -- without causing any damage or claiming any victims.

January 9, 2008 A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the Oregon coast at 8:37 p.m. EST on Wednesday (0137 GMT Thursday), the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

January 9, 2008 8:26:45 AM UTC an earthquake of magnitude 6.4 has struck the unpopulated region of China in China.

January 9, 2008 A strong earthquake struck a remote area of Tibet on Wednesday, but no injuries were reported, a government official said. The quake's epicenter was 400 miles west of Lhasa, the Tibetan capital. It registered a preliminary magnitude of 6.9.

January 9, 2008 A moderate earthquake with a 5.4 magnitude on the Richter scale rocked some parts of western and central Mindanao around 7:46 p.m. Wednesday, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) here said.

January 9, 2008 A large, 6.1 magnitude earthquake rumbled off coast of the Queen Charlotte Islands Wednesday. The earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean around 6:40 a.m. local time, about 180 kilometres south of Queen Charlotte City. This was the third earthquake to hit the island region in the past five days. On Saturday, two earthquakes both measuring in at 6.5 magnitude occurred an hour apart, about 50 km south of Wednesday's earthquake. B.C.'s largest threat for a tsunami would be a ripple effect if a large enough earthquake were to hit Alaska's remote Aleutian Islands

January 6, 2008 An earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale struck Greece on Sunday, shaking people out of bed and sending panic-stricken villagers into the streets but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. Athens. January 8, 2008 A strong earthquake, which rocked Greece on Sunday, has caused a serious problem with the drinking water in the country, the Greek radiostation Skai reports. The earthquake was registered at 7.14 local time in the region of the Peloponisos peninsula and was felt in the whole country, even in Italy.

January 6, 2008 An earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale struck Friday in the Indonesian province of Bengkulu on the southern coast of Sumatra. In September 2007, a 7.9 magnitude earthquake killed 13 people in the province and caused millions of dollars in damage.

January 5, 2008 A strong earthquake registering 5.9 on the Moment Magnitude scale hit northern Chile on Saturday, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage, the US government reported. A much stronger quake measuring 6.7 struck the same region of northern Chile on December 16, 2007. The tremors were part of a series of quakes that rattled northern Chile in recent months. A deadly 7.7-magnitude earthquake on November 14 killed two people, injured 15 000 and damaged an estimated 4 000 buildings.

January 1, 2008 Three separate earthquakes, of which the largest one had a magnitude of 5.6 occurred in the South of Kyrgyzstan (40.346°N, 72.939°E), in a remote area some 30 kilometres from the city of Osh, causing damage to housing and infrastructure. January 9, 2008): The United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) today pledged over 400 winterised tents to the Government of Kyrgyzstan, in response to the recent earthquake that displaced nearly 5,500 people south of Osh.

December 29, 2007 An earthquake measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale occurred near Taopo, the North Island of New Zealand, early Saturday, but no damages were reported. An earlier quake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale occurred on Thursday. A 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck the Gisborne region in North Island on Dec. 20, and caused damages.

December 26, 2007 A magnitude 6.5 earthquake rattled Alaska's Aleutian Islands in the northern Pacific on Wednesday, but did not immediately trigger a tsunami warning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

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Global Floods:

January 10, 2008 Monsoon flooding has forced more than 30,000 people in eastern Sri Lanka from their homes, with many taking refuge in temporary shelters like huts, schools and mosques, officials said on Thursday.

January 10, 2008 Landslides and floods are common during the rainy season on the island of Java, Indonesia. But this year the rains have come early, bursting the banks of the Bengawan Solo River and resulting in a flood that has killed up to 127 people and affected more than 500,000. The survivors of the flood have lost their homes and land that was used to grow food and make a living.

January 9, 2008 Southern Africa floods: Unusually early and heavy rains have continued on the western side of the region causing additional localized flooding in Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. According to government and partners, about 80,800 people have been affected by floods since the first half of December last year. This includes approximately 72,000 in Mozambique, 8,000 in Zimbabwe and 800 in Zambia. The floods have damaged crops and infrastructure. The full extent of the damage is still being assessed.

January 8, 2008 The agriculture sector in Malaysia lost RM50 million after floods hit padi fields, vegetable and aquaculture farms and livestock around the country. In all, 18,228 hectares worked by 16,164 people were affected by the floods.

January 8, 2008 Australians battled both fires and some of the worst flooding in decades Monday that stranded residents in several communities after days of intense summer heat and storms. Flood waters also isolated several communities in Queensland and the Northern Territory, which was lashed by a cyclone over the weekend, emergency services reported.

January 6, 2008 Several regions in five Bolivian departments are on yellow flood alert due to heavy rains caused by the weather phenomenon known as La Niña. The number of families affected by floods increased to 8,120, according to CONARDE (National Council for Disaster Reduction and Management), which also reported eight deaths and two missing people.