As we embark into the unknown of 2022, I’m struck by just what has happened in the first few weeks of the new year. Yes, it’s only the 22nd day into January as I write this column, but already we have seen so much going on in our world around us.
The death of Edward O. Wilson, the dawning of the Wolf Moon, the eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano, and the sudden passing of Meatloaf (aka one of the world’s most formative hard rock musicians) as well as influential Zen Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh are just some of the events that have imprinted themselves firmly in our January minds! Forget Covid!
Edward Osborne Wilson (June 10, 1929 – December 26, 2021) was an American biologist, naturalist, and writer. His specialty was myrmecology, the study of ants, on which he was called the world’s leading expert, and he was nicknamed Ant Man.
“Unless we move quickly to protect global biodiversity, we will soon lose most of the species composing life on Earth.” —E.O. Wilson (1929–2021). His point being that threats to the natural world are multiplying. Species are going extinct at an alarming rate.
He was also formative in evolving the term “epic of evolution”. In social, cultural and religious studies in the United States, the “epic of evolution” is a narrative that blends religious and scientific views of cosmic, biological and sociocultural evolution in a mythological manner. According to The Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature, an “epic of evolution” encompasses the 14-billion-year narrative of cosmic, planetary, life, and cultural evolution – told in sacred ways. Not only does it bridge mainstream science and a diversity of religious traditions; if skilfully told, it makes the science story memorable and deeply meaningful, while enriching one’s religious faith or secular outlook.
And then we had the Wolf Moon: On Monday 17 January, the first full moon of 2022 lit up the skies and stayed illuminated for around three days. The moon was accompanied by a bright star from the Gemini constellation. The first full moon of the year is referred to as the Wolf Moon, but it is also known as the Centre Moon, Cold Moon or Spirit Moon. January’s full moon is known as the Wolf Moon, with this name being passed down from Native American tribes based on the season. Around this time of year, wolves are believed to have been heard howling through the night.
It was traditionally believed wolves howled due to hunger during the cold winter months, but it is known today that they howl for different reasons – defining territory, locating pack members, and coordinating hunting. The full moon is also known as the Centre Moon, which was used by the Assiniboine people of the Northern Great Plains. For those of you who witnessed the Wolf Moon, you will agree with me that it was truly spectacular!
Then explosively (pardon the pun!): Tevita Fukofuka was in the Tongan capital Nuku’alofa on January 15, the fateful day the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupted and seared itself into his memory. “It came on the radio – a tsunami warning for all of Tonga…I can’t describe the feeling. Seeing my daughter huddled in the passenger’s seat, crying, asking if we’ll be alright, asking about the rest of our family.
“It literally feels like an apocalyptic horror movie but worse, much worse.”
While residents of Tonga struggle to recover from a devastating volcanic explosion that smothered the Pacific Island nation with ash and swamped it with water, scientists are trying to better understand the global effects of the eruption.
US space agency scientists calculated the explosive force to be equivalent to 10 megatons of TNT, which would have made the Tonga event 500 times as powerful than the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, at the end of World War Two.
The explosion of the underwater volcano, which is formally known as Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haʻapai, rained hazardous ash over the region, including the Tongan capital, Nuku’alofa, about 40 miles south. The capital also experienced a four-foot tsunami and higher wave heights were reported elsewhere.
The government called the eruption an “unprecedented disaster”.
The shock wave produced by the explosion, as well as the unusual nature of the tsunamis it generated, will have scientists studying the event for years. Tsunamis were detected not just in the Pacific, but in the Atlantic, Caribbean and Mediterranean as well.
And last on my ‘shopping list’ of just a few unusual happenings of the first 22 days of 2022, Meatloaf (Born Marvin Lee Ada) known for his Bat out of Hell trilogy, who have sold more than 65 million albums worldwide, died on the evening of January 20, 2022, at the age of 74. A tragedy for any lovers of hard rock music.
So fellow adventurers into the unknown of the next 12 months, I urge you to buckle up, keep safe and enjoy every moment life proffers.
Until next time,
Sami.
