Wave of Grief
A lot of people have been asking how God could have let something like last week's tsunami happen. Perhaps it is my scientific upbringing, or perhaps I just haven't been with God long enough, but this sort of question never occurs to me. God has given us free will, but I also believe God has given the universe it's own kind of free will—the freedom to function according to it's nature, according to the laws of matter and energy. I don't believe that God would interfere with an undersea earthquake any more than with the most inconsequential human decision. But God has not left us defenseless against what we call "Acts of God." The natural world God created is also here to help us, if we would only accept its wisdom.
The South Asian tsunami has been described as one of the worst natural disasters in history. But how natural is the disaster? The shores that received those seismic sea waves, like most populated areas on Earth, barely resemble their original form. Two strong natural breakwaters—coral reefs and intertidal mangrove forests—have been eliminated over most of the South Asian shoreline. An exploding population coupled with increased technological power and pressure from foreign economic interests has resulted in widespread destruction of these incredibly diverse, productive, and protective ecosystems. Shrimp farms and tourist resorts have proven to be no defense against either the sea or the forces of poverty.
But intact coral reefs and mangroves do more than just protect human settlements; they protect traditional ecological knowledge. In areas of South Asia where the coastline is intact and the people carry on their traditional fishing-based economy, human culture is stable and children are taught the signs of a tsunami. You see, before a tsunami breaks on shore it first gathers up water which causes the sea to draw away from shore. Where the culture is intact, people know to run when they see this. In areas where a fragmented, ever-changing modern economy has taken over, tragedy happens. Children have been observed going out to collect the fish stranded by the receding waters, only to be the first to drown in the subsequent tsunami.
Wildlife may provide even more advanced warning of a tsunami. Biologists concerned about the wildlife in coastal nature reserves have not found any sign that animals were caught in the tsunami. Somehow they knew to get to higher ground. There would be no need for an expensive and technologically-dependent tsunami warning system if people and wildlife still coexisted as they have until very recently. Again, natural ecosystems and sustainable lifestyles give rise to stable cultures that know (among other things) the warning signs of tsunamis, whether it be from watching the animals or knowing the behaviour of the sea, and pass that information on to future generations.
The South Asian tsunami disaster is a tragic example of how losing the connection between nature and culture, as we in the West have done more than anyone, can have unexpected and adverse consequences. When natural ecosystems are lost, anywhere on the planet, traditional ecological knowledge is also lost, and human communities become vulnerable to natural and economic events beyond our control. The tsunami tragedy is only one part of the larger tragedy of our alienation from nature, and we suffer from it as much as nature does.
Sources and things to think about:
Restoring mangroves (via mirabilis.ca)
Wildlife saved by a mysterious sixth sense (also via mirabilis.ca)
Ecocentrism and Traditional Ecological Knowledge
This just in: Tsunami Affects Ancient Tribes —The title is a bit misleading because it appears that these tribes escaped the tsunami just fine and don't need any aid, thank you very much (once again via the all-seeing mirabilis.ca)
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