Sometimes we humans like to think we're on top of the world. Masters of our fate. Controllers of our destiny. Titans with our technology. But now and again, Mother Nature comes along to prove who's really calling the shots.
First, came the fires in California.
Now, an outburst from the Sun.
Hot gas and charged particles from that big, bright ball in the sky are hurdling their way here at a rate of almost 5 million miles per hour.
It's all part of what scientists are calling one of the strongest geomagnetic (search) storms in years. It could disrupt cell phone service. It may knock out power grids and pipelines. People flying at particularly high altitudes could be exposed to radiation many times normal levels. Satellites could get knocked out. My very broadcast might get blacked out! And there's nothing any of us can do about it.
We can take precautions to guard against it. But we can do nothing to stop it.
It’s a humbling reminder to us all that our gadgets are impressive, but the universe is much more impressive.
Sometimes I think a higher force likes to remind us to get over ourselves, and remember that we merely occupy this small slice of real estate in the great cosmos. We don't own it. We're not guaranteed it. And there are no certainties in life that we will always have it.
Leave it to a big storm on the Sun to remind us we're not such a big deal on the Earth.
Watch Neil Cavuto's Common Sense weekdays at 4 p.m. ET on Your World with Cavuto.
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