...Strategy for Disaster Reduction The International Strategy for Disaster Reduction reflects a major shift from the traditional emphasis on disaster response to disaster reduction, and in effect seeks to promote a "culture of prevention". UNISDR is the secretariat of the International Strategy and mandated by the UN General Assembly to ensure its implementation. The International Strategy for Disaster Reduction builds upon the experience of the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (1990-1999), which was launched by the General Assembly in 1989. The International Strategy embodies the principles articulated in a number of major documents adopted during the Decade, including, in particular, the Yokohama Strategy for a Safer World: Guidelines for Natural Disaster Prevention, Preparedness and Mitigation and its Plan of Action, and the text below entitled "A Safer World in the 21st Century: Disaster and Risk Reduction". Both of these were endorsed at the Programme Forum on the International Decade held in Geneva from 5 to 9 July 1999, which also adopted the Geneva Mandate on Disaster Reduction. Learn more about the UN Resolutions and Reports on DRR A Safer World in the 21st Century: Disaster and Risk Reduction Introduction While hazards are inevitable, and the elimination of all risk is impossible, there are many technical measures, traditional practices, and public experience that can reduce the extent or severity of economic and social disasters. Hazards and...
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...Disaster Risk Management Hydrometeorological hazards such as floods, droughts and tropical cyclones afflict many regions of the world, but their impact in terms of lives lost and livelihoods disrupted tends to fall most heavily on the poor in developing countries. Climate change threatens to heighten these impacts in many areas, both by changing the frequency and/or intensity of extreme events and by bringing changes in mean conditions that may alter the underlying vulnerability of populations to hazards. The result in the decades to come may be an increase in the global burden of weather-related disasters: events that can threaten the sustainability of development processes and undermine progress toward poverty reduction. Holistic management of disaster risk requires action to reduce impacts of extreme events before, during and after they occur, including technical preventive measures and aspects of socio-economic development designed to reduce human vulnerability to hazards. Approaches toward the management of climate change impacts also have to consider the reduction of human vulnerability under changing levels of risk. A key challenge and opportunity therefore lies in building a bridge between current disaster risk management efforts aimed at reducing vulnerabilities to extreme events and efforts to promote climate change adaptation. There is a need to understand better the extent to which current disaster management practices reflect future adaptation needs and assess...
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...What is the Pacific Ring of Fire? Although the Ring of Fire is a special location on our planet, no it is not a circular shape of fire in the Pacific. The Pacific Ring of Fire is an extensive string of volcanoes and other tectonically active structures on the Pacific Rim in the shape of a horse shoe. The majority of our planet’s active volcanoes and earthquakes can be found here. Per the article, What Is The Ring of Fire?, “About 81% of the world’s largest earthquake have occurred along the Ring of Fire. The largest earthquake ever recorded on Earth was a 9.5 magnitude earthquake that struck Chile on May 22, 1960.” As you can see in the Fig.1, the string of volcanoes runs up the western coastline of South, Central and North America, across...
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...past two decades and its impact has been reduced. In addition to causing or aggravating respiratory diseases, air pollution in the Black Triangle, especially sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, produced acid rain, wet deposition that have been made more acidic than normal rain. Acid rain is harmful to forests to aquatic ecosystems. Acid rain that penetrates the ground can dissolve nutrients such as calcium and magnesium can cause aluminum in the soil is loose. The forests on higher ground at greater risk because they are exposed to acidic clouds and fog, which contain more acidic than rain or snow and shed their nutrients to the leaves and buds. Hungary established the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe to address environmental issues in post-Soviet Central Europe. Communism had no concern for any environmental issues. Their main goal was high production in spite of any damage it may cause. Environmental problems received no attention in the countries of Eastern Europe, where political and economic regimes did not give priority to the environment until the end of 1980. It is evident...
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...Governmental Fumble: Hurricane Katrina Things that occur naturally such as tornadoes, earthquakes, and hurricanes are unpreventable and are considered to be natural disasters. However, when man knowingly aids in the destructive power of naturally occurring events to inflect more damage, it is unquestionably a manmade disaster. For many years, both in the past and present, the United States has experienced some of the most devastating natural and artificial catastrophes such as The Dust Bowl of the 1930’s and the September 11 terror attack by the Al-Qaida terror network among others. In the case of Hurricane Katrina, the human factor contributed to both the deadliest and costliest hurricane to impact the city of New Orleans. A city that is known to be the birth place of Jazz and the yearly celebration of Mardi Gras has unfortunately inherited a new chain of thought as the city that went underwater. Hurricane Katrina was the third strongest land hurricane and the sixth-strongest Atlantic hurricane ever recorded. The hurricane is approximated to have affected more than 1.5 million individuals in the states of Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama, which contributed to the loss of billions of dollars in damages and job losses caused by the hurricane. The city of New Orleans was the most affected because it stood directly in Katrina’s path and although it is impossible to stop a naturally occurring event from occurring, it is not impossible to limit the damage that it inflicts...
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...Hurricane Katrina: What It Was and the Aftermath Hurricanes, also known as tropical cyclones, are some of the deadliest and costliest natural disasters that affect the United States. They are severe tropical storms that form along the southern Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and in the eastern Pacific Ocean. After the hit, they trigger thunderstorms within an area. Within the Northern Hemisphere, they have winds that go counterclockwise near earth’s surface. Hurricanes occur most frequently within the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts. Typical hurricane season for the Atlantic coast is between June to November. However, the deadliest months are between August to October. Whereas, the Eastern Pacific season starts in May and...
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...contributors to many of the natural disasters that happen in the world. These natural disasters just do not happen in one place over the world they can strike anywhere in the world because mother nature does not take her time to make a distinctions in treatment or show partial favor to what countries receive them. Along the Pacific Ocean rim which is known as the circum Pacific seismic belt where the most of the earth quakes and tsunamis occur at the rate of eighty one percent more than anywhere in the world.( Earthquake Facts and Earthquake Fantasy, 2009, pp. 1-4). This belt stretches beginning with Chile moving northward along the South America coast through Central America, Mexico, west coast of the United States, Alaska, only through the southern parts of Alaska, Japan, Philippine Islands, New Guinea, and islands of Southwest Pacific, New Zealand and the United States. There are other areas where they occur such as the Alpide belt that includes Himalaya, the Mediterranean, and the Atlantic. It happens about seventeen percent of the time in these areas and they have some of the world’s most destructive earthquakes. Also another natural disaster that sometimes brings destruction to the world that we live on includes in the category of phenomena’s known to mankind is volcanoes. They occur in many countries all over the world but I have listed only a few that includes United States, Russia, Philippines, Japan, and France. The first natural disaster that I choose to discuss...
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...seen as problem or threat. Migration is defined as the permanent change of residence of a person or group. It is a natural social phenomenon. Humans have colonized the entire world and penetrated its remotest areas. Migration is taking place within very different contexts: f.e. military conquest, refugees, expulsion or enslavement. But migrants have also traveled in search of economic opportunities, new settlement areas or trade routes. Currently approximately 216,000,000 people are living away from their place of birth. This number equals about 3% of the world population. Analyzing the reasons for migration one distinguishes between push and pull factors - often both appear together. Push factors are circumstances in the country of origin that lead people to emigrate, for example poverty, war or environmental disasters. Pull factors are conditions in the destination country that make immigration attractive such as economic opportunity and political freedom. Overall trends By far the most immigrants live in the United States followed by Russia and Germany. The main countries of origin are Mexico, India, China and Russia. In proportion to the population Persian Gulf countries host the largest share of migrants - about 35% of their population. They mostly come from South Asia and Egypt. Most migrants in the US come from Latin America, particularly from Mexico. In Europe the origin of immigrants differs considerably between countries and reflects their historical development:...
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...Tennessee A natural disaster is defined as any event or force of nature that has catastrophic consequences (“natural disaster”). The only reason that these events are considered to have catastrophic consequences is because people are negatively affected by these natural events. If people were not present during these events, they would not be considered catastrophic. The more people affected means the event would be considered more catastrophic. Tennessee is the 17th most populated state, with approximately 6.4 million residents (Infoplease.com). Within the state, Shelby county covers the most area, (755 square miles), and is also the most populated county, with approximately 927,644 people residing there (Infoplease.com). Shelby county includes the city of Memphis. Memphis is the most populated city within Tennessee with at least 645,000 residents (Infoplease.com). I have attached several maps in order to see different parts of the land. Map I shows where the county lines are located within Tennessee. You can also see where Memphis is located within the county. Map II shows the elevation levels of the state. As you can see in that map, Memphis is located within the lowest elevation levels of the state. Map III shows the rivers that run throughout the state. The main river that runs between the Tennessee, Arkansas, and Missouri borders is the Mississippi River. There are several natural disasters that I would consider to be threats to the Memphis area. One natural disaster that I would...
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...railroad system expanded trade in both Mexico and the United States. In Mexico, many open-ranges gave way to the development of mines and commercial agriculture. Furthermore, many Mexicans were displaced because of this. The railroad brought thousands of Mexicans into America, and railroad linked U.S. markets with Mexico. Commercial agriculture created a push factor that uprooted thousands in Mexico. At first, they migrated to urban centers and eventually they spread to different industries like the railroad, mines, and to the southwest. They went north because of pull factors from the increase in demand of work in the north. The growing industrialized America created jobs at the bottom level of the market. Mexicans fulfilled these needs and took low-end jobs in factories, mines, railroads, farms, and ranches. Other pull factors come from political refugees who were skilled workers, while others came for short periods of time and returned. Other push factors included natural disasters like droughts. In addition, population growth pushed people out of Mexico. In 1910, Mexico's population swelled up to 15 million and small farms could no longer support such a large population. The passage of the Chinese exclusion Act and the Gentlemen’s Agreement with Japan caused a halt to Chinese and Japanese immigration. This created a demand for Mexican immigrants to...
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...displaced people. The Washington Times (2005) reported that “Louisiana officials have said there were more than 1 million evacuees from that state alone, and Mississippi officials have said the total number of people displaced there could be several hundred thousand.” This essay provides a brief history of the devastation left by Katrina: one the costliest and deadliest natural disasters ever to strike the United States in the last 10 years, and what the city of New Orleans learned from such disaster. HURRICANE KATRINA AND THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS 3 Hurricane Katrina and the City of New Orleans Introduction According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) (2015), “Hurricane Katrina was responsible for 1,833 fatalities and caused $108 billion in damage.” making Hurricane Katrina one of the costliest and deadliest hurricanes ever to strike the United States. On August 25, Hurricane Katrina made landfall in the southern counties of Florida as a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. After crossing the south of Florida toward the Gulf of Mexico it became a Category 5 hurricane, then it weakened to a Category 3 hurricane couple of hours before making landfall near the city of Buras, LA. Even so, the great loss of life and the damage caused by this monster hurricane in the southern states of Louisiana and Missouri were devastating. It was such the devastation...
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...The Aztecs, also known as Mexicas, dominated northern Mexico all the way to the early 16th century until Hernan Cortes invaded during a Spanish conquest. Legends reveal they originated in Aztlan, somewhere in northern Mexico. In the 12th century they extended their wandering to new boundaries and settled in the central basin of Mexico roughly a century later. Refuge was found in 1325 on the islands in Lake Texcoco where the major city Tenochtitlan was founded. What is now modern-day Mexico, this city quickly flourished and was inferior to only Paris and Constantinople in population size. The fall of the Aztec empire created ripples throughout history. What was once the most prominent and powerful empire, suddenly ceased to exist, in only two years time. The tactics of Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes, the religious affiliation with the invasion, cultural sacrifices, and the disease and natural disaster that was brought upon the Aztecs, contributed greatly to the rapid downfall of a major world superpower. Sacrifice It is widely believed that the religious rituals of sacrifice the Aztecs participated in contributed to the decline, in multiple ways. The killing of thousands of people is detrimental to society, never beneficial. The population took a drastic hit and the civilizations established around the Aztec empire never allied because of the violent measures they took. Tlaxcala is a prime example. Many of their people had been killed and they inevitably joined the...
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...Disaster in Galveston: The Hurricane of 1900 At the turn of the 20th Century Galveston, Texas was a prospering city that many considered to be ahead in the race for economic dominance in the state. It had a population of 37,000, a thriving business district, and an extremely active port which made it the center of trade in Texas. However on September 8, 1900 a hurricane swept the island, devastating its population, destroying many homes and businesses, and cutting it off from the rest of the world. Galveston is an island 30 miles long and at many points no more than one mile from north to south. Located off the south-eastern coast of Texas, it lies in between the Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Its location, while making it conducive to the sort of economic and social growth that came at the end of the 19th Century, also makes it dangerously prone to hurricanes. Warm waters, like those in the Gulf of Mexico, are a source of energy for storm systems. On top of sitting in warm ocean water, Galveston has a max elevation of only 8.7 feet (and an average much lower than that), making it susceptible to the dangers of storm surges and flooding. Since most of Galveston is at or only slightly above sea level, high waters pushed ashore by heavy winds were able to flood over the entire island, washing people and property away with it. Galveston’s societal conditions further exacerbated the destruction. In the late 19th and early 20th Century, the island was a thriving port and...
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...Country Profile: Mexico Jacey Bennett 20121061 International Business Management MGMT3607 Dr. Dannie Brown Tuesday November 20, 2012 Country Profile: Mexico Mexico is a North American country located south of the United States, north Belize and Guatemala, east of the Gulf of Mexico and west of the North Pacific Ocean. Three main industries in Mexico are mining, manufacturing and tourism. (Encyclopedia of Nations, n.d.) Mexico ranks 14 in the world for its land/water area of 1,964,375 sq km. Natural disasters that may occur in Mexico are earthquakes, volcanos and tsunamis. Mexico’s climate varies from desert to tropical. (CIA, The World Factbook: Mexico, n.d.) The two peninsulas of the country illustrate the changes in the climate from one side of the country to the other. The Baja peninsula is desert like with temperatures reaching 100ºF and above, whereas the Yucatan peninsula is tropical and wet. The Yucatan peninsula contains rainforests and white sand beaches. (World Travel Destinations, Culture and History Guide, n.d.) In recent years, Mexico has rapidly developed its tourism sector, the Yucatan peninsula has grown very quickly. Tourism is the fourth largest source of currency income in the country. (Country Profile: Mexico/economies, n.d) The country’s capital city is Mexico City. The primary language spoken is Spanish but there are an estimated 62 other indigenous languages. Most of the population is Roman Catholic. Mexico is a federal democratic...
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...economic, social, political, and environmental effects on the entire eastern seaboard. The physical storm effects of hurricane Katrina reached states as far north as Ohio, and resulted in a large shift in population from southern states. Hurricane Katrina was one of the most powerful storms to impact the United States in the last 100 years. During its time in the Atlantic and the central part of the gulf, Katrina reached specifications to be classified as a category 5 hurricane with estimated wind speeds as high as 175 miles per hour (NOAA). When it reached shores in the gulf, Hurricane Katrina was classified as a category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale and had estimated wind speeds of 125 miles per hour (Anne Waple). In terms of economic impact brought about by the hurricane, the largest contributing factor was the disruption of the oil industries located in the affected regions. According to Anne Waple (2010), “Preliminary estimates from the Mineral Management Service suggest that oil production in the Gulf of Mexico was reduced by 1.4 million barrels per day (or 95 % of the daily Gulf of Mexico production) as a result of the hurricane.” In direct result to the disruption of oil extraction and production, gas prices had reached record highs by the end of August. Although the economic effects on the most directly impacted regions are very harsh, economists say that when taking into account GDP and the overall state of the economy in the United States, the changes brought...
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