It's the end of the freaking world

Or at least it feels that way, here lately.

Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast, completely destroying New Orleans. 1,242 people died.

Typhoons in the pacific have killed over 200 people this year so far.

Hurricane Stan decimated Central America, tipping off floods and mudslides that have left 616 people dead, with many more missing and likely dead.

A huge earthquake killed over 3000 over 20,000 people in Pakistan, India and Afghanistan.

And, lest we forget, at the end of last year the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake triggered a tsunami that killed hundreds of thousands of people.

I just feel so powerless. Really, ultimately, what can we do to protect ourselves--from dying individually, and from extinction in general? No matter how hard you try to be safe, ultimately there's just no way of knowing whether or not your apartment will burn up tomorrow, or be washed away in a flood, or be toppled by an earthquake, or be smashed to bits in a tornado. Is there really anything we can do? Have we caused these weather systems? Can we alter them? How?