It's time humans heeded nature's warning

Of all the moving images from Japan that shocked the world on the first couple of days, one stood out for its stark contrast. The scene, most probably from Sendai, showed a tree standing as mute witness to all man-made things - from automobiles and boats to seawalls and houses - being washed away by the tsunami. Here was nature represented by the earthquake and tsunami at its worst and by the standing tree at its best at the same time.

The quake-induced tsunami has killed thousands of people, and left many more thousands injured, traumatized and homeless. The twin natural disasters have also turned the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into Frankenstein's monster, a man-made object threatening man.

Nature has time and again reminded humans of their vulnerability and fragile existence, and the physically insignificant place they occupy in the order of things natural.