Click to listen to the audio version of this Daily Paradox.

Alabama is used to tornadoes; they are an annual event. The people who live there are prepared for them at this time of year. In spite of that what President Obama describes as catastrophic storms have left almost 300 dead in the past few days. Following catastrophic earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand and many examples of extreme weather elsewhere in the world it is time to ask what is the relationship between what happens above the earth and what happens below it.

We understand that the climate is changing and we know some of the causes, although there are still many people who have personal or commercial agendas that make them deny the obvious. What we do not yet know is the relationship between the different manifestations of our climate’s ups and downs. It is important that we should.

The pressure to accommodate our rapidly growing population on a planet that clearly cannot feed, water and house the numbers it is expected to, is at the heart of how much effort and money we are prepared to put into correcting our behaviour to make things better. If it is established that tornadoes and earthquakes are in some way related then we must redouble our efforts to bring man’s behaviour more into line with a sustainable planet.

It is not just a matter of climate and core. The basis of our planet’s economic survival is growth. Successful capitalism depends on it. A shrinking world population – for that is what we are soon going to have to see – brings economic consequences that themselves will be called catastrophic. Already ageing populations in many developed countries are threatening the stability of their economies.

The immediate consequences of catastrophic climate and core events are personal tragedy and rescue. Their causes, interrelationships and solutions have profound consequences for our children and grandchildren. It is time to raise our eyes above our immediate survival and comfort and accept that if we do not plan better there may be nobody to remember us a hundred years from now.