I agree with a previous post that there are people of certain belief systems who purport the end is near because of all the natural disasters that are occurring. Um, REALLY?
Here's a clue for ya: The planet has been in a constant state of flux since it was first formed, and it is continuing to naturally evolve. Tsunamis and earthquakes and natural disasters have occurred repeatedly for millions of years, but we PERCEIVE them as being more frequent now because about 100-200 years ago, we actually started keeping records of them. Now we have a world-wide media, and we know about disasters around the world within minutes of them occurring.
We also may be having more frequent natural disasters because of the damage done to the planet by human beings. There's just too many of us. IF there is an increased frequency in natural disasters (and I say "if" because we don't really know if it's increased), it may have to do with things like holes in the atmosphere, billions of tons of garbage and waste being dumped into the oceans and lands, and other damage humans have done.
Do we have a way of knowing how many earthquakes occurred on the U.S. West Coast in the 1400s? 1200s? 800s? BC? We know the recent Japan quake was huge, had several aftershocks, and did a LOT of damage. There were no large buildings to shake a thousand years ago, so we have no idea what kind of earthquakes that country/region has actually experienced over the last few thousand years. Do we know for SURE this is the first time Japan's experienced a quake of this magnitude?
No, we don't. They weren't real big on seismology back in the day, now, were they? We perceive an increased frequency of natural disasters, but we do not know for sure that it's an increased frequency because there are no records of what happened 500, 1000, 2000 years ago. We have news agencies that reported to us that there have been some 270+ tornadoes in the last month, but HOW do we know that's the first time this has happened? They've destroyed homes and did millions of dollars in damage to businesses, but who's to say those tornadoes didn't whip through the plains 600 or 700 years ago, as well, and that this is part of the natural cycle? There were no large cities or trailer parks to be destroyed hundreds of years ago, so we don't know WHAT happened.
To rush to judgment based on weather patterns and natural disasters is ignorant, irresponsible, and requires no actual in-depth thought on the matter. Common sense tells us we don't know what kind of natural disasters occurred before history was recorded and that we have no idea whether or not the natural disasters being experienced are just a repeat of a hundreds-years-old cycle.
I agree that there are those so anxious for the "end of the world", they will likely bring it about via means of wars and other tools of political machination. Makes me want to shake some of these people and tell them to wake up and smell the coffee and stop being ignorant.