Natural Disasters Become More Catastrophic
Pastor Dale Morgan
Natural Disasters Become More Catastrophic*
MAY 20, 2008 03:55
○ Drastic increase in earthquakes, floods and droughts
A research suggested that the number of natural disasters stemming from
geological reasons such as earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis increased
from an annual average of one incident in the 1950s to two in the 2000s.
The number of natural calamities arising from weather-related reasons
including floods, storms and droughts jumped from an annual average of
two to seven over the same period.
A recent report released by international aid agency Oxfam suggested a
similar trend. The agency said that natural disasters have quadrupled in
the past two decades. The number of occurrences in the early 1980s stood
at 120 a year, while it skyrocketed to about 500 these days.
However, scientists at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) showed some mixed responses to the statistics. Some researchers
say the occurrences of tropical storms increased, while others argued
that their intensities are getting fierce, but the number is not rising.
They even failed to conclude whether there is a close connection between
global warming and intensified tropical storms.
A settled conviction in the scientific field is that geological
disasters like earthquakes have nothing to do with human activities.
Some critics say that media coverage is attributable to the hype over
global warming and the argument that natural disasters growingly occur
more frequently.
○ Asian countries suffer the biggest damage
However, there is no denying that the victims of natural disasters have
been on the rise. According to the Oxfam report, the number of
casualties including those killed by natural calamities amounted to
about 174 million from 1985 to 1994, but it soared to 254 million
between 1995 and 2004.
Unfortunately, Asia has been the hardest-hit area. France’s Le Figaro
Magazine reported in its latest edition that about 800 cases of natural
disasters have occurred in the Asian region since 2001. In particular,
the most populous countries, such as Indonesia, China and India,
suffered the biggest damage. All three countries are sitting on fault
lines. A number of mountains and rivers in Asian countries are prone to
landslides and floods. Moreover, the coastal areas are directly exposed
to tropical storms.
The United States has suffered 222 cases of natural disasters since
2001, following Asia. The country has been frequently battered by
capricious and unpredictable natural disasters such as hurricanes and
tornadoes. Although the number of Hurricane Katrina victims is pale in
comparison to that of Asian cyclones, it was shocking that Hurricane
Katrina claimed the lives of more than 1,300 people given that the
number of hurricane victims has rarely exceeded 100.
In contrast, Europe is classified as the safest region in the world. The
European continent has witnessed a total 180 natural disasters since
2001. Most of them were wild fires. Meanwhile, as many as 50,000 people
were killed by scorching heat waves that swept through France, Italy and
Portugal in 2003, and Greece and Romania in 2007.
○ Floods mostly are man-made disasters
Earthquakes have remained the trickiest part to deal with. No specific
countermeasures have been developed. The numbers of people killed by an
earthquake occurred in Tangshan, China, in 1976 and of those killed by
the 2004 tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Ache, Indonesia, were
estimated 255,000 and 250,000, respectively. Some experts say that the
tsunami victims are as many as 285,000.
As far as earthquakes are concerned, there are no particular
countermeasures except to build buildings in quake-proof structures.
Floods and storms also bring about catastrophic disasters, but in the
case of Bangladesh, thanks to massive governmental efforts, a drastic
reduction in the number of flood victims has been made since 1970 when
about 300,000 people were killed by floods. Technological advancement
such as improved satellites and radars has played a great role in
reducing the damage. Many experts say that diplomatic isolation and
incapability of Myanmar’s leadership is most responsible for the
whopping 100,000 victims claimed by the recent cyclone.