What's going on in the world?

So what are some of the most significant news stories of this year?  Earthquakes?  Particularly in Japan?  What about the mideast protests?  Most significantly Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya.  Now what is up with all the recent tornadoes?  And what about the the wars being fought?  And what about all the economic troubles?

What is bringing about these changes?  Are any of them related?  Could these things be some sort of precursor to possible changes some have alleged will occur in 2012?  Or are they really changes at all?  None of these things is new.  Earthquakes have been occurring throughout history.  Some of them tragic...just ask the people who lived at Pompeii when Mt. Vesuvius erupted.  People have been protesting things throughout recorded history.  Government's have been overthrown before.  Wars have been fought...some of them lasting many years.  Economic troubles have come and gone before.  And although tornado activity has increased this year, it could just be a temporary increase.  It may be too soon to tell about that at this point.  

So with that in mind, could all of these things a precursor of things to come?  Could the world already be in the process of changing?  Or are these events mostly unrelated and not necessarily an indication of any major long term changes (economic troubles and the mideast protests may be related though)?  

The world has actually been changing in some ways for a long time anyways.  Just think of some of the changes in the world throughout history.  The world has come a long ways from simple stone tools, to cars, airplanes, and the Internet.  

So what will next year bring?  I guess time will tell.