Eva Lawrence
When was the last time that you could pick up a paper or turn on the T.V. and not see images of yet another disaster to, more often that not, strike some poor area of the world?
In the last twelve months we have seen the earthquake and following tsunami in South Asia (Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar), the earthquake in South Asia (Pakistan, Kashmir, India & Afghanistan), droughts in Darfur, Northern Sudan as well as disasters with less casualties such as Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, USA, and then there are all the ones we don’t hear about.
So what’s up with them? Are they happening more often? Is this the end of the world, as predicted in the Hollywood block buster movie, The Day after Tomorrow? What can you do about what’s going on? Read on to find out.
OK, let’s get the definition of a disaster out of the way.
A natural disaster is when a natural hazard (such as an earthquake or hurricane) affects a vulnerable population. So, a tsunami in the middle of the ocean is a hazard, but when it crashes over land, killing people and destroying homes, it becomes a disaster.
Why do more people die from natural disasters in poorer countries?
Of every 100 people killed in a natural disaster, 96 live in the poorest countries of the world (Christian World Service).
Talk about bad luck!
The fact is it is not a coincidence that poor people get hit with natural disasters. They are not more likely to experience an earthquake or hurricane, but because of poverty they are more vulnerable to the affects of the hazard. If a tsunami came crashing into Auckland, there would certainly be a huge mess and lots of deaths. But, most of the concrete buildings would stay strong and the government, army and civil defence would be in sorting stuff out ASAP.
Well, what about the USA? That’s not a poor country. True, but notice that is was one of the poorest regions of the country and the people that were most affected were the poor black population, without transport who couldn’t get out.
Long term effects
A disaster doesn’t stop when the shaking stops or when the cameras move on to a new story. People continue to suffer the effects and rebuild their lives and communities for months or years to come. At this later stage there may be threats of as many or more deaths from secondary causes due to poor hygiene, lack of clean water, food and shelter.
Reducing deaths from natural hazards is about time and money spent on prevention and building infrastructure to aid in recovery. It is also about reducing vulnerability to hazards through decreasing poverty.
Are these disasters increasing?
So are natural disasters increasing? There is some evidence that climate change is increasing weather-related hazards such as floods and hurricanes. While there is not an increase in the number of other hazards such as earthquakes, these more often become disasters due to the increasing world population and the number people living in poverty.
In the western (wealthy) world, the number of deaths from disasters is decreasing but the amount of money spent on prevention and recovery is going up. To what does this mean? In rich countries, hazards cost money; in poor countries hazards cost lives.
Media Coverage
The media also makes it look like disasters are everywhere. Natural disasters get a lot of coverage in the media because they are dramatic. They are sudden, graphic and seemingly blameless. And dramatic images sell.
And the more media coverage, the more money people donate to the cause. There was a huge out-pouring of sympathy and money in response to the tsunami — too much money in fact for many governments and aid agencies to cope with. In contrast, victims of the Pakistan earthquake have not received nearly enough aid and are in great danger as winter sets in.
As tragic as the tsunami was and other natural disasters are, there are other ongoing human disasters with greater numbers of casualties that get a lot less coverage. Compare the stats in the following estimates:
80 000 dead, 3.8 million homeless in the South Asia earthquake,
300 000 dead or missing in the South Asia earthquake and tsunami,
1 million people a year die from malaria
3.1 million people died from AIDS related illness in 2004 (that’s like 10 tsunamis a year!)
TAKE ACTION!
So, what can YOU do?
- Read media more critically and widely.
- Donate money or time (such as working in a call centre) for a charity that you support.
- Become involved in development work and campaigns against poverty to reduce the vulnerability of countries to disasters.
- Consider donating money regularly rather than just when there is a disaster.
- Look after your environment so that we don’t increase the incidence of hazards.
- Create your own home emergency kit.
LEARN MORE
NZ Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management
Special thanks to Justin Kemp from Dev-Zone
This article was originally published in Jet Magazine and is reproduced here with their permission. Photo’s courtesy of Save the Children NZ.
