Apr

Natural Hazards

Natural hazards may best be characterized as the convergence of environmental change and human behavior. Each year, the lives and livelihoods of millions of people across the globe are impacted by hurricanes, storm surges, floods, wildfires, earthquakes, etc. These extreme and mild atmospheric and geophysical events are factors in the small- and large-scale destruction of property, collapse of critical infrastructure such as bridges and sewage systems, business disruption, food and water shortages, and economic and political systems failure. The aforementioned disasters represent the spill-over effects of that tragic and never-ending story of human-environment collision.

The 200-year Earthquake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti 2010

Humanity’s relationship with nature has been tenuous for thousands of years. Communing with and controlling it is embedded in primitive and modern cultures’ survival and advancement struggles. In ancient times, agricultural societies settled near active volcanoes, along rivers, and near seas and oceans to gain favor with "the gods.” Obedience, according to their beliefs, to these sources of energy produced fertile soil for growing crops, water abundance for irrigation, and generous agriculture and animal food yields. Over time, surpluses from "divine providence” fueled population increase which generated the need for intense mechanized farming to feed greater numbers of people. Gradual and explosive population gains created the cultural, economic, and political conditions for the emergence of more complex and stratified communities, diversified professions, and the birth of capitalist societies that bend nature to their demands.

New York City

Advanced capitalist societies engaged in highly intensive industrial and commercial enterprises are characterized by extreme wealth, gross poverty, and people in the middle. Class divisions around the globe are reflected in where and how people live, work and play. Residential, commercial, and industrial development in floodplains, on hillsides and fault lines, and along rivers and shores symbolize attitudes and behavior that defy environmental risks and dangers. Natural hazards researchers suggest that the stage for disaster is set when multiple actors and agents support and reinforce this way of life through economic and political systems, market forces, and institutional structures that work in concert toward "the progression of vulnerability.” Natural hazards serve as mere "triggers” for disaster.

Blaikie, P. et al’s, At Risk: Natural Hazards, People's Vulnerability and Disasters 2004

No one knows for certain when and where the next tsunami, landslide, tornado or other "act of God” will strike. What is known for sure is that all sectors of society must choose environmental stewardship as a course of action for the prevention of disasters and to safeguard citizens’ health and well-being. For it is a daunting and impossible task indeed to predict Mother Nature’s character and temperament on any given day. Better luck can be found establishing sustainable living policies and practices which help to make buildings less structurally unsafe and people more resilient to environmental change regardless of their social or economic standing.

Natural Hazards Internet Resources

American Red Cross

http://www.redcross.org/

Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters – CRED

http://www.cred.be/

CRED’s International Disaster Database

http://www.emdat.be/

Center for State Homeland Security (CSHS)
www.cshs-us.org/

Disaster Assistance.gov

http://www.disasterhelp.gov/

Federal Emergency Management Agency

www.fema.gov