Ed,

World headlines and media commentators have in recent weeks since the Bangladesh floods spread fears that flooding rains are a clarion call for more major disasters about to descend on, we mere earthlings. But most of these spokespeople may have seriously forgotten the history of centuries past.

For instance, they do not appear to know that more than 6,700,000 people were drowned in six world-wide separate storm events between the years of 1822 and 1911. As a long- time student of history in all its forms, I have not as yet come across any fearmongering talk from those old days that these storm related events were at the time believed to be heralding further death and destruction through climate action.

Detailed historic weather statistics and reports by governments and meteorological professionals show, for instance, that China lost 2,000,000 people in 1887 when the Yellow River flooded and a further 4,000,000 some 44 years later. Bangladesh lost over 200,000 citizens from flooding as far back as 1876; 240,000 in 1897; 40,000 in 1822 and 120,000 in 1911.

This is in contrast to Bangladesh’s recent death toll from flooding of 1,000 unfortunate souls and 13,187 drowned internationally by flooding rains as a result of significant major storms from 1912 until last year. Quite a telling story, I would suggest to your many readers.

There are also very accurate historical references that China experienced a long period of widespread and heavy flooding rains in the late 1800s which destroyed food sources, causing over 25,000,000 Chinese peasants to die in 1906 from starvation as a result of what had become a nation-wide famine. Some Chinese commentators during that period claimed that the heavy rains had flooded and had denuded and carried the valuable topsoil to the sea, causing widespread crop failures.

Hopefully, history may continue to teach us that things earth-wise today is far from being as serious as those of centuries past.

Oscar Tamsen, Yamba