We tend to go about our days without thinking much about the planet we inhabit. Even when natural disasters such as earthquakes occur, we think of those as regional events.The recent 8.8-magnitude earthquake in Chile sent tsunami warnings to countries thousands of miles away. Still, it didn't seem as if the earthquake had a global reach or should concern us for any reasons beyond the obvious humanitarian ones.
Then came this news on the NASA web site.
Experts say the Chilean earthquake caused a shortening of days by knocking the planet off of its axis. How scientists figure this stuff out is astonishing. What's even more amazing is how an apparent localized natural event can literally impact the entire globe. Earth and life itself appear far more fragile than we often realize. In a year of record-breaking odd weather, earthquakes and other occurrences, it makes one wonder whether these events are somehow connected or if the planet is in some kind of transitional period.
No comments:
Post a Comment