Natural disasters are the most devastating and destructive things that occur. Natural disasters inclue hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, flooding, landslides, and tsunamis. The big problem is that no one can control them. Of course people such as weathermen etc. can predict natural disasters but the exact magnitude and strenght of the disaster is never really known until it hits. A recent devastating natural disaster that occured was the tsunami in Japan.
More than 18,000 people were killed due to the Japan tsunami that happened on March 11, 2011. There was an earthquake which caused the tsunami to happen. Media videos show the tsunami as water just keeps rushing farther and farther onto land destroying homes and buildings as if they were paper. This earthquake was a natural disaster that was predicted whether people knew about it or not. My uncle is a marine biologist in California and he frequently goes on research trips. Last summer he went on a month long research trip in the Pacific Ocean to look at the plates of the Earth in the Pacific Ocean. By doing tests on the plates and getting data, they predicted that there would be an earthquake and it would be pretty big. They did not know when the earthquake would occur and they did not predict that the earthquake would be as strong as it was.
When natural disasters take place in a country, other countries pitch in and help them get back on track. That is one part of globalization; working together. When a disaster hits one country, it inevitably affects other countries. It will take a long time to rebuild Japan and its economy, so in turn, the world's economy is affected. Countries such as the United States are lending a hand and raising money to send to Japan. On a large scale, the American Red Cross has donated ten million dollars to the Japanese Red Cross. On a smaller scale, right here at Clemson University, Sigmapalooza was held and a portion of the money raised from that was sent to the American Red Cross to aid in Japan's relief efforts. The act of helping goes a long way because when Hurrican Katrina hit New Orleans, countries sent the USA relief money. It's a system of giving and receiving that builds a positive relationship with other countries, assisting in the spread of globalization.
Natural disasters are devastating, but I think it is pretty amazing to see how countries put all arguments aside to help one another. In times of need it is not about disagreements with oil, war, or anything along those lines, but it is about helping others. I see the United States and other countries pouring their efforts into Japan and helping them in any way possible. We may not think that little donations such as money raised from Sigmapalooza does any good, but it reality anything is better than nothing!
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