Why Are Natural Disasters So Mesmerizing?

Last year we witnessed the largest wildfire in California history when the Camp Fire disaster struck. Day after day we were subject to news updates about lost family members, entire towns being decimated, and pictures/videos that showed the devastation that the fire was leaving in its path. And for some reason myself, and many others, were mesmerized by the images we were seeing.

There is something about seeing something so brutal it becomes beautiful art. Like how we cannot look away when we pass a car crash, we crave images of natural disaster whether it be by land, air, or sea.

When Katrina hit everyone would be tuned in to the news. And sure, people wanted to know how the citizens of New Orleans were doing, but we really wanted to see the mess it created. I was 11 and remember watching the news to see swells come crashing through barriers, houses literally floating away, and buildings torn from the ground.

When a volcano erupts the image of lava slowly creeping down the side of the mountain, inching closer and closer to wildlife and highways, is so artistically beautiful that even though we know how horrific it is, we want a 24/7 stream of it. And when we get overhead shots of smoke billowing out of the volcano, hurling debris in every direction and creating a thick, throat-closing cloud over anybody in a couple mile radius, we can’t look away.

And last years wild fire was the latest in a long line of fires that have burnt down thousands of square miles of forestry and infrastructure that Americans wanted consistent pictures and videos of. Remember the video posted on twitter from a highway in Los Angeles that showed fire sweeping down a hillside, burning every tree in its path? Sure you do. It was shared hundreds of thousands of times by people like you and me that can’t look away from a disaster.

There is probably some part of our brain that registers these images as “must see” but I think it is just human nature. When you see people fighting, a car accident, or a gruesome injury you cannot look away no matter how much you want to. The same goes for these natural disasters and as much as I hope they never happen, I always look forward to the pictures and videos that come from it.