Global Storms and the Mirage of Normality

It is heartening, as world leaders continue to perpetuate the mirage of economic normality even at the expense of planetary considerations, to learn that scientists increasingly are using evidence from the world of nature to direct their work, such as gauging the imminence of global storms and geomagnetic storms in space.

A recent article refers conclusively to the way that animals living in or close to groundwater can sense when rocks become stressed some days before an earthquake occurs, and react distinctively to the changes to their environment, such as the toad colony which abandoned its pond just before the earthquake in L'Aquila, Italy in 2009. In a more spectacular example of the wisdom of nature, the Aurora Borealis is being studied by researchers to see how the magnificent coloured sheets of light can forewarn us about giant space storms which have the potential to destabilise if not wipe out power and communications on Earth.

Here, nature is being seen as an ally, which is as it should be for our planetary community. Meanwhile, as the drought in certain parts of England continues due to over-building, over-consumption, over-population and waste, the solution of government and water authorities, announced today, is to take more water from the rivers which are already so depleted some of them are running dry. It is another attempt to pretend that everything is normal. We are seeing not just an economic mirage but a cultural mirage also: I wonder if it will be the reality of the world of nature that will shatter this human world of illusion?