Hundreds were buried in mudslides following an earthquake accompanied by torrential rains. Tens of thousands died in the tsunami. Dozens drowned in the floods. Thousands were affected by "Katrina", and so on and on.
Hundreds were buried in mudslides following an earthquake accompanied by torrential rains. Tens of thousands died in the tsunami. Dozens drowned in the floods. Thousands were affected by "Katrina", and so on and on.
Tsunamis, earthquakes, mudslides, floods, hurricanes, and the damage they cause all together and individually are framed and cataloged as "natural disasters", that is, disasters against which there is no way to defend against the evil impact and whose occurrence is difficult to predict and prevent. is that so?
In order to relate to PM, one must first of all change the framework - the catalog, that is, to separate the various events and order them in separate frameworks: those that can be predicted, those that can be prevented, those that can be defended against, and above all those whose negative impact is caused and intensified by human activity /
Even if we ignore man's responsibility for the warming of the earth, a warming that undoubtedly stimulates extreme phenomena such as tropical storms, periods of drought, hurricanes and typhoons, we still cannot ignore the activity that harms the natural environment and is harmful to nature. Cutting down forests, drying up water bodies, diverting rivers, damaging coral reefs, destroying mangroves, all these activities have been taking place for many years (tens and some claim hundreds of years) without giving an account of the future effects they will cause. I have already referred to "Katrina" and the damage it caused in New Orleans and I mentioned that if they had not damaged the swamps and the water bodies, they would have served as a barrier that moderated the intensity of the damage, if the "developers" had listened to the advice of the hydrologists they would not have built in areas prone to flooding or intermittently they would have built a durable protection system and reliable
Following "Katrina", the reasons for its severe damage to New Orleans are examined under a magnifying glass, but there is no need for amplification measures, the reasons are obvious and obvious. Dams along the Mississippi stopped the accumulation of sediment in the "delta", oil and gas pumping in the area caused subsidence, a subsidence that lowered the ground level (which was low to begin with):, a recipe for floods. Today it turns out that canals dug to allow the movement of ships caused the salting of marshes where pine forests grew, the forests died and with them the natural protection against storms. The canals formed a "funnel" that would overcome the storm.
I have also written about the devastation caused by the tsunami and attributed it to destruction that would have been much milder if the coral reefs around the islands of the Indian Ocean had not been damaged and would have provided "breakwaters", as well as the mangrove groves which, if they had not been seen and destroyed - would have been a moderating factor for the destructive waves. Many of the victims of the earthquake in Pakistan were buried under Landslides of dilapidated buildings that were densely built in "slam" neighborhoods, but there are more
The victims were in the rural areas
There, villages were destroyed by rockslides and mudslides, landslides that were "expected" to happen, landslides from areas that were once covered with vegetation, the vegetation/trees were removed to provide raw material for the construction of the houses, to clear pastures for cooking and mainly for burning for cooking and heating, rains washed away and crumbled the soil and the shaking caused For deadly landslides, landslides that continue and happen even weeks after the tremor. If the trees had not been visible, the landslides would not have been so deadly.
The world's population is increasing and causing an "invasion of residents" into areas that under natural conditions would have remained empty, either because of the understanding that they are not suitable for human settlement or because of other uses (nature reserves, agriculture, etc.), "forced" settlement which intensifies the risk of damage in general and the risk of damage "from disasters" - Nature" in particular..
Overpopulation in cities causes "economical" and dangerous construction. Overpopulation in rural areas causes pressure (exploitation) on the open areas around the residential areas: diversion of streams, agricultural cultivation, grazing and above all cutting down trees. All of them together damage the natural texture of the environment and are a recipe for disaster.
So for the sake of order and the scientific truth: earthquakes are difficult to predict, but it is possible to build in a way that reduces damage and vulnerability. Most of the immediate victims of earthquakes are residents of large population centers (cities) whose "houses" were built without consideration, planning, or future thought, simply because their residents lack the means to plan for the long term. In rural areas the direct damage is not so severe, because: low construction with soft materials and a lot of space. The severe damage from earthquakes in rural areas is from secondary factors:
After the earthquake comes mudslides, when torrential rain is added to the formula, the mudslides intensify and cover villages, as happened in Central America, this damage can be prevented, the mudslides are caused by human activity. Deforestation and deforestation is the main and primary cause of mudslides. The trees stabilize the soil and regulate the release of water, in the places where the trees were visible the soil was condemned to drift and die when water currents flowed down to what had to be done to prevent the collapse of rocks and mud: all that was necessary and possible to do to prevent a disaster was to leave the trees in their place!
So in the future it might be worth changing the nomenclature: an earthquake is indeed a natural disaster, but: mudslides, floods, and other harmful events are man-made. Perhaps if we change the nomenclature, the attitude will also change and more will be done to prevent man-made disasters.
