Japan tragedy seared into the world's imagination

[tabatha]

TOKYO – There are events in history that sear themselves into the world's collective imagination, and enter the realm where myth meets heartbreaking reality.

Japan's tragedy is one of those events. Already, it seems reasonable to surmise it could prove one of the most significant calamities of our time — one that shapes policies, economies, even philosophies for decades to come in an increasingly interconnected world.

There is the sheer, surreal force of the images emerging from afflicted zones: cars perched on rooftops, ships sitting in rice paddies, helicopters in a David-and-Goliath battle against radiation-spewing nuclear reactors.

And the way it haunts us with some of our most basic fears: Death by water. Or rubble. Or nuclear fallout.

Add to that, it's a crisis with an impact that will be felt around the planet: Japan is one of the most advanced countries in the world, its third-largest economy, its most successful car-seller and its second-most generous giver of foreign aid.

"This event has the potential to be the most globally disruptive natural hazard in modern times," said Rob Verchick, a disaster expert at Loyola University in New Orleans. "And it may just be, in the context of globalization, of all time."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ap_on_re_as/as_japan_earthquake_global_tragedy

[Arctic Dave]

1. I am at a charity dinner right now for them.

Every little bit helps.

[tabatha]

2. Good for your help.

I need to do so tomorrow.

[tularetom]

3. "The most globally disruptive natural hazard in modern times"?

Well, so far, anyway.

[tabatha]

4. Imagine if the population density in Australia had been the same

the same as in Japan.

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. I suspect that at the very least it will change

globalization.

It may actually bring it to a halt.

As to aid... we gave to the International Red Cross