Natural Disasters Essay
Given that we are all enrolled in environmental science course, It is safe for me to assume that most of us aware of environmental issues and calamities affecting the nation. However, no matter the steps taken to fight and control the natural calamities, they still recur with severe consequences as compared to the previous decades (U.S., et al., 1989). For instance, in 1998 an average of 380 cases was reported; whereas in 2008 the recorded number rose to 400 (Hyndman & Hyndman, 2010). Within a period of ten years cases of natural disaster has increased by 1.2%. If this situation is not properly handled, disasters will continue to (Hyndman & Hyndman, 2010).
United States is the most affected by these calamities. As such, the country has developed a number ways to fight the effects of these it since controlling it is quite hectic (U.S., et al., 1989 Nevertheless, there is a level of ambiguity on how the government is well organized to handle these kinds of disastrous events (Hyndman & Hyndman, 2010). They have to weigh their financial status; purchase affordable equipments to handle these cases and train people who are ready to sacrifice their lives to save the state. Ironically, despite the gravity of the events, the government still doesn’t have supplies to handle emergencies in all the states.
Washington, DC's representatives lack vigilance in dealing with the likely catastrophes. Most states still do not have the necessary supplies and plans to handle these kinds of situations. This means that we are not fully prepared; though, we are fully aware of the natural disaster occurrence at any given time. Many states view this as the responsibility of the government and that’s why we are not well prepared, plus some of the required protective equipments are way too expensive to purchase (U.S., et al., 1989).
If the states were well informed about disaster management and fully equipped with resources; handling natural catastrophes would be much easier. The government should rate this issue, among the most urgent problems in the country and it should be the government’s first priority. The failure to handle natural disasters efficiently could also be politically devastating to the recent government. The nation’s safety should always be their first priority if they want to remain in power (Hyndman & Hyndman, 2010).
The failure to clearly clean up the mess caused by the natural calamities may probably, undercut any given political future. This is because the citizens have lost confidence and trust in the politicians. As they were in a position to save the country; but instead they did very little to prevent and reduce the depth of destruction. Therefore, the catastrophe led to massive destruction of properties, loose of more lives and deterioration of the country’s economy. However, bearing in mind the difficult economic times the country is experiencing these methods maybe hard to install; but, still the government should be keen on the most important techniques and education to save the people and country from grave destruction. The economy is mostly at stake as the assigned natural catastrophic cost; keeps on increasing both, in terms of the budget and gross domestic products (Hyndman & Hyndman, 2010).
The emergency team is in a position to manage future occurrences if the current government management mobilizes them and distributes resources to handle emergencies. As long as the team has enough food, water, and resources to last them for three days; handling these types of emergencies is way much easier. The team must also be well informed on how to handle different situations in cases of emergency. Resources such as first aid kits are also very important to reduce the number of deaths. The government is in a position to organize and fund seminars on different aspects of natural disaster management, in all the states (U.S., et al., 1989).
Our country should be in a position to manage natural catastrophes on both the state level and national level. This can be done through a contingency action plan that allocates different teams to deal with emergencies. It should also form a state level mechanism; that is to be institutionalized in all the states and headed by a government official (U.S., et al., 1989). Set up different states’ and national management facilities. These states should be fully equipped with the necessary equipments and well trained personnel (Nwanna & Nwanna, 2004).
All states and the national teams should learn the different techniques to apply throughout the disaster to avoid more tension and panic which can lead to death during catastrophes. The government should keep a record of the catastrophes. This will help them to figure out the best way to handle future natural disasters (Hyndman & Hyndman, 2010). The depth of destruction should be well outlined and the forces behind it. The government should offer public education and state awareness campaigns this can be done through, newspapers, books, films and other public means system to pass the message nationally (Nwanna & Nwanna, 2004).
Earth being an intricate, dynamic structure it has undergone severe fluctuations of change mainly caused by human population and their activities; such deforestation, overpopulation and other destructive human activities that led to global warming. Nevertheless, these changes must not be assumed because they are the cause of most of the natural calamities. Climate change is the cause of natural disasters such as tsunami in the southern Asia region and Hurricane Katrina in the United States. No matter the depth of the research done; no scientific technology can be able to come up with the exact vision of the changes in climate. Therefore, disasters are prone to be more severe and frequent due to human activities and climate change. In 1999, the landslide at Washington State destroyed property amounting to $70,000; while the recent hurricane in the eastern United States destroyed property amounting to $75billion. During the last decades it was rear, for more than two natural catastrophes to occur within a year. However, in 2011, a tornado was recorded in Joplin and Virginia. In the same year floods were also recorded Mississippi river (Nwanna & Nwanna, 2004).
A research done by an intergovernmental panel on climate; stated that the magnitude of these events is likely to increase due to global warming, climatic change and natural shifts. For instance, the recent earthquake in Pakistan was caused by plate tectonics. According to Torstein Jeworrek climate change will only led to more weather catastrophes, although it can not be connected to any individual weather occurrence (Hyndman & Hyndman, 2010). The typical global temperature is around 2 to 4 degrees Celsius and it’s most likely going to rise to 4-7 degrees Celsius. This will automatically cause environmental change as a result of the increasing greenhouse chemicals released in the atmosphere (Nwanna & Nwanna, 2004).
The government and the nation is fully aware of the consequences of natural disasters and that’s why they have formed federation to improve the way calamities are settled. The forces keeps on increasing for example the recent storm floods in sandy rose to 13.88 beating the 1960 record of 10.02. The government needs to improve the stated as measures as the severe frequency of the disasters keeps on rising. This is done through educating the citizens and distributing resources to assist them during natural catastrophes. The government should ask for assistance in the neighboring states if the destruction is very grave in one state.
References
Hyndman, D. W., & Hyndman, D. W. (2010). Natural Hazards and Disasters. Independence: Cengage Learning.
Nwanna, G. I., & Nwanna, G. I. ( 2004). Natural Disasters and Other Emergencies, What You Should Know: A Family Planning and Survival Guide. New York: Frontline Publishers, Inc.
U.S., N. R., U.S., N. R., Engineering, N. A., U.S., N. A., U.S., I. o., & Reduction, A. C. (1989). Reducing disasters' toll: The United States decade for natural disaster reduction. Washington: National Academies.
