What is Digg?50 Comments
- sustainablogger, on 06/13/2008, -0/+18The developments in Greensburg, Kansas, after a tornado wiped out the town last year come to mind... they're rebuilding green (and these are rural conservatives who don't necessarily buy most environmentalist arguments). For them, it was a way to revitalize their community.
- easygravy, on 06/13/2008, -2/+16OK, the title scared me. I wondered can this author really be promoting such tragedy. But then I saw that the author clearly spells out his position on the suffering, but is looking for what possible good can come from such havoc.
A worthwhile read...worth consideration. - Julie188, on 06/13/2008, -0/+10The pine beetle is destroying the forests of Colorado. It has (as far as I know) nothing to do with human beings and yet there is an underlying almost unquestioned attitude that 1) Humans should do something. 2) Humans must be responsible. 3) Humans should do something. 3) This is BAD and must be stopped and its up to us. It is sad to see all those trees destroyed, but it feels like part of the natural cycle of things, and certainly massive forest fires from overgrown forests aren't a good thing for Colorado either. There seems to always be an upside to every tragedy.
- balibones, on 06/13/2008, -1/+10Who hasn't read The World Without Us yet?
- Ryan1212, on 06/13/2008, -1/+8definitely an interesting read
- Blablah01, on 06/13/2008, -0/+7Always look on the bright si-ide of life... *whistles*
- redcolumbine, on 06/13/2008, -2/+7Easy to say from a point of view of privilege. But I do wonder whether a volcano could cough up enough dust to slow climate change a bit...
- J16T3CH, on 06/13/2008, -0/+5When I was 14, I went to Yellowstone with my brother and grandma. There had just been a big forest fire a month before, which was caused by lightning, and the park did nothing to stop it (until it got near the new ranger station)... but just within a month, you could already see new plants growing out of the old burned trees and such... it was amazing to see life beginning to take form so quickly after the fire.
- tbk123, on 06/13/2008, -1/+6my friends rescued a pit bull that was being used as bait and found in a trailer after hurricane katrina.... one creature better off after the disaster...
- inactive, on 06/13/2008, -1/+5I wonder if tornados help the environment in any way. Anybody know?
- ICSU, on 06/13/2008, -0/+4The author doesn't say disasters should happen. He finds positive effects when they do. And they do.
- swabfalling, on 06/13/2008, -0/+3And the award for Optimist of the Year goes to... That Guy.
- yoda17, on 06/13/2008, -0/+3The best way to argue against something is to argue poorly for it.
- jedimasta, on 06/13/2008, -0/+2Two things here. I want to say that for the planet there is no good or bad. The planet will go on and on and on. The good and bad relates to us as a species inhabiting the planet.
The second is gonna sound like I have no soul, but SHOULD we be talking about the wellness of the Earth's whole eco-system, losing several hundred thousand (or more) humans could very easily be seen as a good thing. Obviously not from our perspective, but if you liken it to giving a dog a flea-bath, you can kinda start to see where this thought comes from. Humans are easily the highest consuming, resilient and destructive creatures on this floating space ball. I'm not suggesting we go around thinning any herds mind you, I'm just saying that from a bird's eye view, the lessening of an over-achieving species leaves room for lesser species to thrive. - LavaWarrior, on 06/14/2008, -0/+2He is just saying some upside, he never actually said that the good outweigh the bad, cause they definately don't.
- ICSU, on 06/13/2008, -0/+2Do you know what is one of the main causes of the amazing biodiversity the earth has experienced?
mass extinctions - dtd00d, on 06/13/2008, -0/+2I have no clue what you're talking about, but please don't use a chick flick to back up your point...
- Stochio, on 06/14/2008, -0/+2"2. Natural Disasters Give Communities a Chance to Improve Infrastructure and Re-Prioritize Community Needs"
Google: Parable of the Broken Window - humperdeath, on 06/13/2008, -0/+1Timing is poor, for the disaster, and high will be the deaths. But to the brave and the lucky, a new world to populate, is here. -Yoda
- inactive, on 06/13/2008, -0/+1DOOD!
- inactive, on 06/13/2008, -0/+1Um, Physical science, 8th grade.
- bimtott, on 06/13/2008, -0/+1Only three ideas, two of them were touchey-feely community-building nonsense. How about more ecological benefits (wildfires are a great example), scientific benefits (greater understanding of meteorology, oceanography), economic benefits (a good excuse for rich countries to distribute more economic aid to previously ignored countries).
- aki009, on 06/13/2008, -1/+2The author has a point. An additional one is that after a natural disaster the rebuilding effort is mostly funded by outside contributions, be it from donations, the government or insurance coverage. Hence the infrastructure improvement takes place greatly outside the local budget, creating a miniature upswing for the local economy.
Historically speaking great disasters have been used to change the face of cities. Rome wouldn't be the city we know today, had it not had a large fire under a Ceasar who was clearly insane. Tokyo changed much after the Great Kanto Earthquake (and some more after World War II). - oldgal, on 06/14/2008, -0/+1Humans are an integral part of nature, so whatever we do is part of the whole cycle. When things get too out of whack, Mother Nature gets her panties in a bunch and equalizes things again.
- geoffhill, on 06/14/2008, -0/+1Population control.
- TheMatches, on 06/14/2008, -0/+1Don't make me send you two to time out.
- lesty420, on 06/14/2008, -0/+1Just like 9/11
- Yage2006, on 06/13/2008, -0/+1Well it also helps fight globing warming by bringing the co2 levels down in areas with an over abundance of carbon based life.
- Scruffydan, on 06/14/2008, -0/+1I can't say much for the pine beetle problem in Colorado, but if it is anything like the major outbreak of pine beetles here in BC then youa re wrong to say that has nothing to do with humans.
Over a century of forest management practices have resulted in large, infilled pine-monocultures that have allowed pine beetle populations to grow beyond 'natural' population sizes.
Secondly the lack of sever cold snaps in our forests could be linked to climate change, which we certainly are causing - Anarchy25, on 06/14/2008, -0/+1Tragic yes... but not a natural disaster...
- nedy78, on 06/14/2008, -0/+0Interesting....all though a bit perplexing. The Indian Ocean in 2004, the death of 225,000 people. It's hard to see the good side of that, but there probably is with rebuilding and peoples respect for mother nature. Probably, maybe right?
- Stochio, on 06/14/2008, -1/+1You're an idiot. Once your house is paid off and you decide to be "unemployed" do you burn it to the ground to be fully employed in rebuilding it? Utter nonsense. You don't understand the concept of capital wealth.
- Ribbys, on 06/14/2008, -1/+1The loss of life is massive, but the forest fire example is a good one. When we try to stop forest fires in remote areas, dead wood just accumulates and it becomes a time bomb. Letting the fires happen in remote areas should be the practice, and just protect habited areas.
Floods bring sediments to replensish nutrients in soils also.
We have made structures on top of land that we dont really control, as when nature wants to clean up we are ignored. - runnernerd, on 06/13/2008, -0/+0Spreading pollen and seeds, and removing topsoil that may be devoid of nutrients.
- dragnonfly310, on 06/14/2008, -0/+0The article was good, but I'm burying this because the author cannot get the date right. Hurricane Katrina was in 2005, not 2006.
- larrywsm, on 06/14/2008, -1/+1In some cases it thins the herd
- humperdeath, on 06/13/2008, -1/+1Darwin at work. Since hurricanes find trailer parks all the time, those are the poor saps that get blowed away.
- mydave, on 08/12/2008, -0/+0scientists are searching the ways how to use tornadoes, or just earthquakes.
http://search.ashtech.info/environment - aki009, on 06/14/2008, -1/+1You are an idiot yourself for not understanding the point of what I am saying, or what the article is stating. Perhaps you should learn to read what others are saying, or are you incapable of such a feat?
- yiuyan, on 06/14/2008, -0/+0What defines a disaster anyway? Nature does as she pleases. These "disasters" restore balance in nature. Too much heat, tropical winds dissipates them; too much energy between tectonic plates, an earthquake releases them. Suppose if we could harness the power of a volcanic eruption, then it would no longer be considered a disaster, but a power source. It is we human that say that define something to be a disaster. Advanced as we think we are, we belong to nature after all. One day I believe that the entire human population will reach a certain level of symbiotic relationship with nature, then there will be disasters no more.
- LeViAtHaNLC, on 06/13/2008, -1/+0i need just one question for u ..... remeber katrina? and the rest of the world smile
- SilverBlade2k, on 06/13/2008, -3/+1I think Natural Disasters is nature's way of saying "MOVE TO AN AREA NOT PRONE TO NATURAL DISASTERS, MORONS'
- ancientdinko, on 06/14/2008, -1/+0Unfortunately natural disasters seen in our lifetime are likely puny compared to what the earth is capable of dishing up.
A disaster on a truly massive scale such as a supervolcano would have no upside. (except maybe a do-over for the lucky survivors)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Toba - inactive, on 06/13/2008, -2/+0We need more disasters we need to kill 2 billion people sterilize 75% of the female pop. to save the earth tigers the rainforest then every county unite under a 1 world gov. and put all our resource into fusion power
- J16T3CH, on 06/13/2008, -4/+2I strongly disagree with the first two points of this article. Especially the second one point. Obviously its hard to find the upside when tens if not hundreds of thousands people die.
- Kanuhduh, on 06/13/2008, -3/+0Reminds me of the scene in "Catch and Release" where Jennifer Garner's character lets loose and releases her inner most secrets. "I am truly disappointed when the death toll in natural disaters is low."
- inactive, on 06/13/2008, -9/+5any time a natural disater strikes Mexico there are benefits.
The Digg Toolbar for Firefox lets you Digg, submit content, and keep track of Digg even when you're not on the Digg site. Download the official 
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is