Would you be one of those staring at the sea going out before a tidal wave hits?

A post by a connection on LinkedIn referring to a newspaper story in an Irish paper about climate change got me thinking this afternoon. I have become a bit of a fatalist about this issue so I decided to write a comment about it. However it grew to be a bit longer than originally intended so I decided to post it on the Sirelark blog too.

Is there any scientific reason why this cannot happen?

​I've come to the conclusion that the human race cannot avoid a disaster of a certain magnitude. Every civilisation has after a time either self-destructed or been destroyed by a natural event; that will happen to ours too, but how and when? Will it be climate change? It's possibly the commonest cause of civilisation death, so why would ours be immune?

I imagine many think we are different due to advances in technology and knowledge. But societal extinction can occur despite the recognition of impending disaster, even if the exact causes were unknown or disputed.

Is it because the human race is hard-wired to be materially and intellectually selfish and therefore ineffective in the face of catastrophe? And why are so many compelled to stare in awe at a retreating shoreline before a tidal wave hits, rather than leave everything behind and run like hell?

If we have caused climate change, reducing the intensity of a disaster requires each person to make independent sacrifices and leaders to lead by example, with honesty and altruistically.
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I see little evidence of this, so it seems inevitable that the natural world will be radically different sooner than we would believe.

Are you one of those under the spell of a retreating shoreline? What are you doing now to prepare and protect your business and family?

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