 Nurtured in the tropical rain forests, drawing energy from the slowly moving seas, severe weather can remind us how fragile our tenantship of this land is. From  El Nino  in the Pacific to the awesome power of hurricanes, ocean temperature differences feed energy to the atmosphere. On a smaller scale, tornados are born from thunderclouds, with winds of up to 200 miles per hour. And while winter is a wonderland for many, the blizzard can be a killer. Not all weather is sudden; in the Asian continent the monsoon is a welcome feature (unless too soon and too severe, when floods can kill thousands). And elsewhere rain can lead to flash floods and widespread damage. While we cannot (yet) change the weather, we can understand it and prepare for its vagaries.