As social unrest in Baltimore devolves into another Ferguson, Missouri, situation following the death of Freddie Gray at the hands of local police, the entire nation of Nepal fights desperately to overcome a catastrophic earthquake that has left the traumatized country literally in ruins. The death toll continues to rise and is now at almost 6000 souls lost. The quake was so powerful, it is believed to have changed the height of the world's tallest peak, Mount Everest! [Curiously, mainstream media (at least in the US) has been silent on a phenomenon that occurred hours before the Nepal superquake. A land mass measuring over one thousand feet in length and almost fifty feet high arose from the sea off the coast of Japan, in a matter of hours!] Both news stories seem to be brewing at a slow burn, become increasingly worse with each passing hour. All of this as the majority of the world is playing the fiddle while Rome burns.
As immense as these two stories are, there are even more frightening events bubbling just beneath the surface and ready to erupt. Finland detonated depth charges at a "mystery vessel" beneath its waters near the capital of Helsinki, after months of trying to pinpoint the location of the craft (believed by most to be a stealth Russian nuclear submarine). Sweden has also dealt with incursions from the Mystery Machine. Meanwhile, Iran seized a US ship after firing shots across the bow in the Straits of Hormuz, in a developing situation, as Iran exerts more military power and influence in the powder keg region of the world.
Warnings abound in the past few weeks alone: Scientists warned this week that the risk of a "mega-quake" taking place within the next several decades in California has risen significantly, from a 4.7% likelihood to a rather frightening 7%! While the risk of a moderate-sized earthquake has reduced, the chances of a much-more destructive 7M or greater temblor has jumped, following an uptick in powerful seismic activity noted across the globe. All of this, as the Golden State deals with the worst drought in history!
The European Science Foundation issued a warning regarding the expanding potential of a "super-volcano" eruption somewhere on the planet in the next few decades, outlining the catastrophic effect such an eruption would have on the entire planet. (The warning was issued mere days before the surprise eruption of the Cabulco volcano in Chile, part of the Laguna de Maule super-volcano caldera system! Now, the USGS has issued a report that a mammoth new magma chamber has been discovered beneath the Yellowstone Super-Volcano caldera located in the western United States as well! An eruption of the Yellowstone volcano would simply "disappear" the United States and Canada as the nations we know them today...)
The US Department of Energy issued their own warning this past week. In an official report compiled at the behest of the White House, the DoE warned that "modern life as we know it" in the US was at risk, due to dangers posed at the nation's power grid and infrastructure. The dangers included terrorist and cyber-attack threats, as well as threats from a solar storm paralyzing the electrical grid, as well as "future disasters created by climate change."
Author Elizabeth Kolbert claims that the planet is undergoing a mass extinction event in her new bestselling book The Sixth Extinction. (A claim that has been made by several prominent scientific institutions over the past several years as well.) And we are still counting down the days (150 days) in the "climate chaos" warning issued last year by the French foreign minister at a State Department meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry!
So, take your pick as to the calamity du jour!