The student news site of El Camino College

El Camino College The Union

The student news site of El Camino College

El Camino College The Union

The student news site of El Camino College

El Camino College The Union

Yes: Is the world coming to an end?

Earthquakes are shaking things up more often, signs of global warming are becoming more evident and volcanic activity is on the rise. Sooner or later, mankind as we know it will no longer exist.
The question is not how the world will come to an end, but rather when it will come to an end.
More and more, natural disasters have been creeping up on us. Take, for example, the most recent natural disasters around the globe, including the devastating earthquakes in Haiti, Chile and China. According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), all three of these earthquakes happened within the past four months and the death toll brought on by these rumbles were sky high, exceeding a total of 230,800 deaths.
Now, that is not to say that massive earthquakes are going to be happening all the time, but it’s proof that the plate tectonics are moving at a rate that is doing damage to the Earth’s surface.
The scary thing about it all is that natural disasters, like earthquakes, happen so suddenly that there is little or no time for preparation.
Although death and damage did occur from these products of Mother Nature, science and technology did succeed with early warning signs, resulting in mass evacuation from the disaster areas, an article from USA Today said.
One natural disaster that, in fact, can be prevented is the rising sea level, according Dr. Jeffrey Chanton of the National Snow and Ice Data Center.
Harmful gases are released into the air every second of every day and these gases are eating away at the Earth’s protective ozone layer, thus allowing the Sun’s Ultra-violet rays to penetrate the hemisphere at an alarmingly fast and effective rate. A direct result of this, also known as global warming, is the warming of our oceans and the melting of ice caps.
Imagine Earth as just a sunken planet with no life left to spare but the fish. This won’t be like a fantasy “Water World.”
What about Iceland and the ridiculously hard to pronounce volcano that recently erupted and covered Europe with ash?
True, volcano eruptions are easier to predict, but the damage they inflict is beyond dreadful.
There are some things that man (and woman) cannot control. As the “end” slowly creeps up, the only thing left to do is take care of what’s left of the planet. Maybe 2012 will be it.

More to Discover