We would just like to say at this point thank you

The End of the World - 2012 and Natural Disasters:

Is Anyone There?

If you are reading this then you can be fairly certain that the world did not end in 2011. But the doom mongers amongst you should not despair. Evidently the Mayan calendar does not extend beyond 2012 and therefore we are all assured earthly destruction sometime in the not too distant future.

Natural Disasters: The Economic Cost

Seriously though, 2011 has been an extremely bad year for natural disasters. In fact, 2011 has probably been the most costly ever. Current estimates stand at about a third of a trillion US dollars. Of this, the Japanese earthquake and the resulting tsunami accounts for $210 billion. And this doesn't take into account the effects of the follow on nuclear accident.