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Disasters are increasing in intensity and frequency.

If society doesn't learn from previous disasters, it's bound to repeat them.

Four disasters changed the world, and in doing so, taught us how to prepare for the next.

It seems both mainstream, cable, and even social media are consumed with discussions of past disasters (9/11, floods, COVID-19) or speculations on impending disasters (AI gone rogue). The United Nations has confirmed that disasters are increasing in frequency and intensity.

Harvard professor George Santayana once wrote, “Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness … and when experience is not retained, infancy is perpetual. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

This is a valuable warning. But more valuable yet is the admonition of Alvin Toffler, who said, “If we do not learn from history, we shall be compelled to relive it. True. But if we do not change the future, we shall be compelled to endure it. And that could be worse.”

Disasters are devastating, but perhaps we can learn valuable lessons from them to help shape the future. This post looks at four modern disasters that changed the world and the lessons we can take from them that might prepare us for the future. Failure to do so could be unimaginable.

Tokyo Sarin Gas Attack

On March 20, 1995, members of Aum Shinrikyo punctured bags of sarin. Sarin is a potentially fatal nerve agent that causes acute cholinergic reactions, especially feelings of suffocation. The release killed 12 people and caused more than 5,000 to seek medical care, causing chaos across the subway system and overwhelming hospitals with........

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