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Placing it above man, no.

Depends upon how you look at the Scripture. If you consult how God describes His punishments upon man for violation of His Statutes, as for example in Leviticus 26, He places man at the effect of natural disasters AND personifies nature, thus:

32 And I will bring the land into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it.

33 And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste.

34 Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies' land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths.

Most of God's punishments are environmental as they were at the beginning in Genesis 3:17-18:

17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

Thistle species dry out the land and effuse the soil with potent alleleopathic hormones. They can turn a productive range into a dust bowl. Once established on a large scale, it's all over.

This is not to mention the plagues against Egypt, which were largely environmental as well. It's a recurrent theme in the Bible that Nature is at HIS command, and it will support us only as long as the children of Israel keep His Commandments and His Statutes.