generalspeaking

The Grim Reaper of 2011

Tsunami Strikes Japan Photograph from Kyodo/Reuters

2011 was not a very kind year for the world's population of vulnerable human beings living in geographical areas of the globe where they are susceptible to the unexpected ravages of climate and disruptions in the Earth's crust. A report issued by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters and the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction detailed the pain and suffering and loss of life and infrastructure related to natural disasters in the past year.

In total, 20,943 lives were lost to earthquakes; in Japan in particular, followed by New Zealand and Turkey, with disastrous results, but far fewer lives lost. A greater total of 29,782 people lost their lives as a result of 302 natural disasters that struck around the world. Many of them in developed countries of the world, with resources available to help cope, but some in parts of the world where such disasters were piled upon poverty and deprivation.

The most expensive disaster, which caused damage to the value of $210-billion, occurred in Japan with the earthquake and tsunami that caused the Fukushima nuclear plant catastrophe in March. Floods that struck Thailand from August to December cost that country $40-billion to cope with. The previous year, 2010, saw 385 natural disasters occur at a cost of $123.9-billion. Those that occurred in 2011 were triple the cost of the year before.

The floods in Brazil in January, the deadliest in that country's history, took 900 lives. And Hurricane Irene event that struck the United States in August and September, added to the occurrences. Tropical storm Sendong hit the Philippines at the end of the year at a cost of 1,430 lives, marking the second-highest death toll resulting from worldwide environmental disasters.

"The Japan earthquake and the accompanying tsunami is a reminder to us all that we cannot afford to ignore the lessons of history no matter how forgotten. The many major cities located in seismic zones need to take seriously the probability of return events even if many years have passed since the last seismic event of major magnitude.

"Unless we prepare for the worst, then many earthquake-prone urban areas around the world are destined to see even greater loss of life in the future as more and more people move to cities." Margareta Wahlstrom, UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction.

A total of 206-million people were directly affected by various disasters that took place in 2011; 106-million by floods and 60-million by drought, mainly in the Horn of Africa.

Labels: Natural Disasters, United Nations

posted by Pieface @ Thursday, January 19, 2012