Mexico City is fine, there is a lot of earthquake preparedness here after '85. We have been more affected by the two weeks of storms (but the inundations, while severe, are nothing like Houston or India). The situation will be very different in the coasts, there is no preparedness that protects you from being near the epicenter of an 8+ earthquake or a cat 2 hurricane.
I am very worried about the long term results of this. Saying our government is a failed state is being kind. There is no way they will manage too control two big natural disasters. All international help will go to the USA. Add to that the delicate economic situation...
]]>So, take a society that has just colonized a new world. They will probably be used to being very careful with their resources after a period in space. The high level of hygiene has two consequences: aggressive parasites and autoimmune diseases. Then it becomes a question of which problem dominates. If the autoimmune diseases are the main problem, I would expect the emergence of "pro-nature" groups that believe in relaxing the hygiene rules. This may put the population in contact with highly pathogenic organism, and cause an epidemic where the conservative groups will be the less affected, shifting the balance of the culture. This will of course last until the excessive hygiene causes enough autoimmune diseases. This cycle may be altered by the random evolution of a contagious parasite, which will automatically shift the cycle towards the conservative stage. I would expect this process to dominate in rich ecosystems where there is a constant contact with animals. An other way to alter the cycle would be the coevolution of low virulence pathogens and habits that favor their transmission between persons. I wonder if this is how public baths and the microbiome evolved.
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