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October 15, 2005
IMHO: Human Development's effect on Natural Disasters
A commenter has asked "Do you think human development on environment has lead to the occurence of the natural disaster? if yes, how does it causes the natural disaster?" in response to this post. My answer is "Yes, and No". First of all, "Natural Disasters" are all man-made in that without the presence of man, they would not be disasters, but only "Natural Phenomena". These events are only disasters because they result in loss of property or human life.
Does human development on environment lead to occurance of natural disaster? I'm in the "not really" camp on this part of the question. This CNN.com article affirms my belief that the hurricanes we are seeing are just part of the normal run of weather events. "The Skeptical Environmentalist" by Bjorn Lomborg, a former member of Greenpeace and "Junk Science Judo" by Steven J. Milloy helped shape my understanding. Do we still have a responsibility to take care of the environment we live in? Yes. Do we need to become alarmists, and adopt a back-to-nature lifestyle? No.
Where I believe human development has made a difference is in the toll these natural events have. Development in costal regions, a fairly new occurance thanks to many modern conveniences, ensures significant loss of property, and possibly human life (in the case of people unwilling or unable to evacuate). It's a simple risk vs. reward calculation. If you want to live in an area, known for destructive weather or geological occurances, you incur the associated risks of loosing your property or your life. Americans seem to believe the consequences of their choices can be deflected on the Federal Government, forgetting the government is merely a reflection of themselves. How long can we sustain this lifestyle?
We need to keep in mind that the earth is in a constant state of change. Even the location of the continents has changed over it's history. We cannot stop hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanos, tsunamis or even wildfires, we can however learn from them and learn to live with them. This is knowledge our ancestors may have held, and lived by, which we have turned from.
In the aftermath of the tsunami last Christmas, I recall reading a story about an entire village saved, thanks to that ancient wisdom. I can't find the article now, but basically when the villagers saw the water draining out of the ocean, they knew from folk wisdom that it would return in force. Drawing from that wisdom, the residents moved uphill quickly, and saved their people. They needed no sophisticated "early warning" system, they did not wait for a government agency to tell them what to do, and they lost not one person.
These are great questions, and hopefully will lead to great discussions. Discussions which are long overdue.
Posted by Anna at October 15, 2005 3:53 PM