This is a little bit off my usual theme but I was watching the late news the other night and the weatherman (yes, it was a man) was commenting on the activity in the tropics and then mentioned that it is snowing in northern parts of Canada. He then went on to say that the most recent copy of the Farmer’s Almanac was out with the predictions for another hard winter.

His comments got me thinking of how “Mother Nature” had been in the news a lot this year or maybe I’ve just noticed it more. There are reality programs about tornadoes and tornado chasing (I wonder if I’d have the nerve to go on one of those trips for vacation?) that have become very popular over the past few years. The debate on Global warming continues while volcanos shut down air traffic with their ash clouds.

Presidential hopeful Michelle Bachman even wants us to think that at least some of the recent natural disasters are a message from God. In late August while speaking at a political rally in Florida she said: “I don’t know how much God has to do to get the attention of the politicians. We’ve had an earthquake; we’ve had a hurricane…” Yes she was joking but maybe she has a point.

Have you heard of the Gaia hypothesis? I’ve always liked this theory. It appeals the primitive part of me that has a deep respect and affection for nature…not that I’d want to give up all of my modern conveniences…just make them more energy-efficient.  But anyway the Gaia hypothesis proposes that all organisms and their inorganic surroundings on Earth are closely integrated to form a single and self-regulating complex system, maintaining the conditions for life on the planet. ( This is the definition listed on Wikipedia)

The Gaia Theory first showed up in the 1970’s and received a great deal of ridicule by the scientific community. How things have changed. Scientific investigation of the biosphere, the salinity of the oceans, global surface temperature, Ozone, oxygen levels and so on have developed into a number of earth sciences. There are even some religious offshoots connected with the theory.

Some of those treat the earth as a living organism and liken hurricanes and tornadoes and other natural disruptions as the mother earth trying to cleanse itself. Well, far be it from me to offer any opinion on that theory but  the Jesus Blog has listed the natural disasters so far this year:

• Earthquake magnitude 5.2 – Southern XinJiang, China-January 1

• Earthquake 7.1 magnitude Chile-January 2

• More Than 1,000 Dead Birds Fall From Sky in Arkansas-January 2

• Dead fish cover 20-mile section of Arkansas River-January 2

• Uganda yellow fever outbreak kills more than 40-January 3

• Earthquake Near Japan Triggers Tsunami Warning-January 3

• Powerful earthquake hits south-east Iran-January 3

• Earthquake 7.0 magnitude hits northern Argentina-January 3

• Hundreds of dead blackbirds found in Louisiana-January 3

• 10,000s of Birds found dead in Manitoba-January 3

• Thousands of Birds fall from the sky in South America-January 3

• Major Flood in Rockhampto,Australia-January 3

• 100 tons of dead fish wash up on Brazil’s shores-January 4

• Hundreds of dead birds found in East Texas-January 5

• Dead birds in Sweden, millions of dead fish in Maryland, Brazil and New Zealand-January 5

• Shift of Earth’s magnetic north pole affects Tampa airport-January 5

• 40,000 crabs found dead on England beaches-January 6

• Heavy floods leave at least 35 dead in Brazil-January 6

• Earthquake 4.5 magnitude in California-January 12

• Huge Waves Destroy Homes in E. Indonesia-January 12

• Magnitude 6.3 earthquake– SOUTH ISLAND OF NEW ZEALAND-Febuary 21

• Thousands of dead fish have washed up at Sebastian Inlet State Park Florida-Febuary

• Millions of small fish including anchovies, sardines and mackerel were found dead at King Harbour area at Redondo Beach, California-March

• Magnitude 8.9 earthquake and tsunami devastating Japan-March 11

• Magnitude 3.5 earthquake – OFFSHORE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA-March 17

• Magnitude 6.5 earthquake– Vanuatu- March 17

• Magnitude 7.0 earthquake strikes northeastern Burma-March 23

• Magnitude 6.7 earthquake in South of Java,Indonesia-April 3

• Magnitude 6.5 earthquake hits Veracruz,Mexico-April 7

• Magnitude 7.4 earthquake hits shore of Japan-April 7

• Deadly Tornadoes hit Minneapolis and Missouri-May 22

• Deadly Tornadoes hits Oklahoma City-May 24

• Massive dust storm hits Pheonix-July 5 

• 7.8 Magnitude Earthquake hits New Zealand-July 7

• Texas Fire destroys 1,554 homes, 17 people missing-September 11

Whew! I’m glad they are tracking these and not me. But If the Gaia theory has any validity, and some mainstream scientists are starting to take note, I’d say we have a sick planet and we’d better start helping out. Break out the antibiotics for the earth or something! My sister and I need to get to Alaska before the glaciers melt!