Tonga

Tonga, a Pacific island nation best known for its uniquely shaped postage stamps, is now known for something else - an undersea volcano that omitted such a big eruption this past week that tidal waves were recorded as far north as Alaska and as far east as Peru.

The main Tongan island of Tongatapu suffered "significant damage" along its western coast, according to news reports, and many of the areas along it were reportedly wiped out.  A tsunami slammed deeply into Tongatapu and ash fills the sky as far as anyone can see.  Fresh water has been contaminated and power has been cut.  Communications with Tonga are almost non-existent. 

None of this, of course, has anything to so with climate change; this is a matter of geology.  We should continue to address climate change. But the eruption of this underwater volcano in the Pacific - part of the "ring of fire" that surrounds that vast ocean - ought to remind us that irrespective of how we humans act, nature is ultimately in charge of this planet.