Is it just me or does it seem like theres a uber-deadly natural disaster at least once a year lately? Is this something new or am I just reaching an age where I realize this now? Was this happening in the 80s? 60s? 20s? Did we just not hear about it as much before the internet? Did we not realize the magnitude and death tolls before we had Twitter and photojournalists everywhere? Or has the death tolls increased as populations soar and cities develop? I guess my question is: has there always been this many natural disasters? If so, did we just didn't hear about them as much or in the same way? Or were the number of deaths lower? Or were there less natural disasters?
I think that what flagamuffin touches on is true; people are much more aware of natural disasters now due to communications technologies, somewhat like we are now more aware of crime. As for severity, I'm really not sure. My cousin (who fortunately, lives far north of the typhoon's path) sent me this link. I have to say that what it details seems unlikely, so watch it with a grain of salt. However, what did give me pause is that the U.S. has modified weather patterns before for tactical purposes, notably in Vietnam. Skeptical as I am of the content in the video, I wouldn't be surprised to find that some of the technology we are using might affect weather in unforeseen ways.
It's a documented fact that climate change increases the extremes (both directions) in weather. But the two deadliest hurricanes in US history happened in 1908 and (I think) 1922. Of course, we have infrastructure to deal with this stuff in the US now. But on the flip side we're more likely to be cognizant of disasters in the Philippines than we were in 1900. Krakatoa famously netted one little 'ticker' line in British papers when it erupted in 1883 -- and that's as big as a natural disaster can really get.