Natural disasters
Natural Disasters
We have all seen the awful effects of a flood or an earthquake - if we’re lucky only on the news.
About 75 percent of the world’s population live in areas affected at least once by earthquake, tropical cyclone, flood or drought between 1980 and 2000 (Reducing Disaster Risk UNDP report, 2005).
What causes natural disasters?
First we need to get a bit technical. Natural hazards and natural disasters may sound like the same thing but there is a small but vital difference.
Natural hazards are things like earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, tsunamis, floods and drought - any physical event that happens naturally. They are caused by changes in the atmosphere, the earth’s surface or the sea or other body of water. They can happen quickly, called a rapid onset hazard, or build up gradually, called a slow onset hazard. They can happen over smaller, local areas or affect countries, regions or the whole world – some even happen in space, on the sun for example.
Natural Disasters happen when the effects of a natural hazard cause serious problems for the people they affect, either in maintaining or improving their standard of living. This can be an economic effect (destroying crops for example), a social one (e.g. families being separated), or both.
We can’t stop natural hazards; they are a feature of our planet. We can stop many natural disasters.
Natural disasters are easier to prevent than many other environmental problems. Today, there is more scientific knowledge and technological know-how than ever before to predict the effects a hazard might have before it strikes. After we find out the risks of a hazard and we can often take effective actions to reduce them, e.g. replace trees in deforested areas. The cost of doing this is normally far less than the cost of clearing up after a natural disaster.
But the media and the public are generally not interested in prevention work before a disaster - they take more
We have all seen the awful effects of a flood or an earthquake - if we’re lucky only on the news.
About 75 percent of the world’s population live in areas affected at least once by earthquake, tropical cyclone, flood or drought between 1980 and 2000 (Reducing Disaster Risk UNDP report, 2005).
What causes natural disasters?
First we need to get a bit technical. Natural hazards and natural disasters may sound like the same thing but there is a small but vital difference.
Natural hazards are things like earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, tsunamis, floods and drought - any physical event that happens naturally. They are caused by changes in the atmosphere, the earth’s surface or the sea or other body of water. They can happen quickly, called a rapid onset hazard, or build up gradually, called a slow onset hazard. They can happen over smaller, local areas or affect countries, regions or the whole world – some even happen in space, on the sun for example.
Natural Disasters happen when the effects of a natural hazard cause serious problems for the people they affect, either in maintaining or improving their standard of living. This can be an economic effect (destroying crops for example), a social one (e.g. families being separated), or both.
We can’t stop natural hazards; they are a feature of our planet. We can stop many natural disasters.
Natural disasters are easier to prevent than many other environmental problems. Today, there is more scientific knowledge and technological know-how than ever before to predict the effects a hazard might have before it strikes. After we find out the risks of a hazard and we can often take effective actions to reduce them, e.g. replace trees in deforested areas. The cost of doing this is normally far less than the cost of clearing up after a natural disaster.
But the media and the public are generally not interested in prevention work before a disaster - they take more