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Natural calamities: essay on natural calamities | geography.

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Essay on Natural Calamities

Essay Contents:

  • Essay on the Effective Implementation of Relief Measures in the Wake of Natural Calamities

Essay # 1. Meaning of Natural Calamities:

Natural calamities are the calamities which are inflicted by God, or Nature, or man and his world. At these calamities, the unseen hand wreaks havoc in the part of the world it chooses to act upon. On these natural activities of nature no scientific or technological developments can wield any control.

They can occur as and when and where ordains it. Natural calamities can be of many different kinds, but the similarly in all, is their massive destruction in the area of their occurrence. The natural disasters are of many kinds, they are drought and famine, flood, earthquake, hailstrom and a cyclone.

In the wake of all these, in one sweep there is complete devastation and destruction, due to which normal life comes to a standstill. Loss of life is well nigh complete, and belongings of people get lost, blown away or swept away. The scene is one of the awe, of some unknown power that appears to wreak some revenge on the people of the area.

One feels that, there will never again be life in the area, there will never again come up any construction in the area. But, nature plays its part in this also, and even after the most ghastly disaster, life has come up blooming as ever as before in areas of such devastation.

ADVERTISEMENTS: (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Essay # 2. Types of Natural Calamities:

Different natural, calamities can be distinguished from each other in terms of their nature and extent of their impact. Calamities like: earthquakes, hailstorms, avalanches, landslides, etc., occur quite suddenly but they are restricted in their impact in terms of time and space. Similarly, though floods and cyclones occur with some element of warning yet their occurrence is confined in duration.

Drought, on the other hand, spans over a much longer time-frame and its adverse impact on the economic activities and life of an area is of a more lasting nature. The measures required to meet the threats posed by different calamities, therefore, differ considerably in terms of disaster preparedness and amelioration of the economic and social life of the affected people.

Major and Minor Calamities:

Natural calamities may be broadly grouped into major and minor types depending upon their potential to cause damage to human life and property. While natural calamities like: earth quakes, droughts, floods and cyclones could be regarded as major, hailstorms, avalanches, landslides, fire accidents, etc. Whose impact is localized and intensity of the damage is much less can be categorized as minor calamities.

Minor calamities like: hailstorms, avalanches, landslides and fires also occur without any appreciable degree of forewarning and cause damage to properties and lives. However, areas prone to such disasters also could be identified and certain precautionary measures taken in the context of potential threat requiring general awareness and an ability to relate to a predefined system of appropriate responses on the part of the local administration.

Essay # 3. Crisis Relief Plan for Natural Calamities:

For ensuring appropriate policy and administrative response to natural calamities, a clear identification of the nodal organisation and the pattern of inter action between the different Government functionaries would be necessary.

The Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC) in the Agriculture Ministry is the Nodal Department for all matters concerning natural calamities relief at the centre. In the DAC, the Relief Commissioner functions at the nodal officer to coordinate relief operations for all natural calamities.

i. Relief Commissioner:

The Relief Commissioner will be assisted in the discharge of his duties by the Additional Relief Commissioner and an Emergency Operations Centre (Control Room) in the DAC. The Control Room will function full scale round the clock after receipt of first information about the occurrence of a major natural calamity for the period specified by the Relief Commissioner for dealing effectively with the crisis arising out of a natural calamity.

Control Room:

The present arrangements in the DAC for receiving massages outside office hours are by way of a Night Duty Cell and a telex facility, once a major natural calamity occurs, a Control Room with full complement of staff for round the clock functioning will be brought into operation.

The Control Room is intended to be the nerve centre of all emergencies and will, therefore, be adequately equipped and optimally located. Immediately on the occurrence of a major natural calamity, the members of the Crisis Management Group (CMG) and the Control Room first shift functionaries (duly identified in advance) required for full scale functioning of the Control Room will be got assembled.

The duty officer of the Control Room will be an official of sufficient maturity to grasp the seriousness or otherwise of the information reports and convey to the Agriculture Secretary/Relief Commissioner/ Additional Relief Commissioner accordingly.

ii. Duty Officer’s Functions:

The charter of duties of the duty officer will clearly indicate the course of action that he is required to take on receipt of messages of a particular nature. The duty officer will have in his possession the names, addresses and telephone numbers of all members of the Crisis Management Group and the essential personnel of the Control Room. He will also have the particulars of their alternates and also the telephone numbers of the Control Rooms of all the State Governments with whom he may have to communicate.

The personnel manning the full scale Control Room would be drawn from the DAC for emergency duties. The officers in charge of night duty and telex facility and also control room staff shall be given advance briefing and training in the tasks to be performed by them. There will be sufficient sets of telephone lines and wireless equipment’s available to the control room as also transport.

Control Room Responsibilities:

The control room will:

I. Collect and transmit information concerning a natural calamity and relief;

II. Keep close contact with the Govt. of the States affected by a calamity;

III. Interact with other Central Ministries/Departments in connection with natural calamities and relief;

IV. Maintain records containing all relevant information relating to action points and contact points in Central Ministries/Departments/State Governments; and

V. Perform such other functions and duties as may be entrusted by the Relief Commissioner;

VI. Dealing with first information.

The Control Room on receipt of the first information with regard to occurrence of any major natural calamity will immediately transmit the information to the following:

1. Secretary to the Governor

2. Secretary to the Chief Minister

3. P.S. to Agriculture Minister

4. P.S. to Minister of State (A&C)

5. Cabinet Secretary

6. Secretary, Rural Development

7. Secretary, Water Resources

8. Secretary, Power

9. Secretary, Civil Supplies

10. Secretary, Health

11. Secretary, Transport

12. Secretary, Science & Technology

13. Secretary, Home

14. Secretary, Food

15. Relief Commissioner

16. Joint Secretary (Scarcity Relief)

17. Joint Secretary (Policy Planning)

18. Agriculture Commissioner

19. Secretary, Animal Husbandry.

The first information report and the subsequent periodical reports generated by the Control Room will also be sent to the officers indicated by the Relief Commissioner from time to time.

Designating Nodal Officers:

Every Ministry/Department of Central Govt. dealing with the primary or the secondary relief functions referred to in ‘National Policy’ would designate an officer not below the rank of a Joint Secretary as the Nodal Officer with an alternate for dealing with matters concerning natural calamities and relief. These nodal officers shall furnish information to the Relief Commissioner through the Control Room of the DAC on such periodicity as may be determined by relief Commissioner.

Traditionally, relief in the wake of natural calamities has been treated as the primary responsibility of the States. Successive Finance Commissions have also reiterated this position. Even though the States are primarily responsible for relief activities, the Central Government associates itself with measures aimed at ameliorating the sufferings of the people on account of natural calamities.

Towards this end, the Central Government, with its resources, physical and financial does provide the needed help and assistance to buttress relief efforts in the wake of major natural calamities.

The dimensions of the response at the level of National Government are determined in accordance with the existing policy of financing the relief expenditure and keeping in view the factors like:

(i) The gravity of a natural calamity,

(ii) The scale of the relief operation necessary, and

(iii) The requirements of central assistance for augmenting the financial resources at the disposal of the State Government.

Types of Response:

The Central response can be:

(i) Policy response, and

(ii) Administrative response.

(A) Policy Response:

The policy response to a natural calamity would be provided by the Prime Minister, Cabinet Committees and the Agriculture Minister.

The objectives of policy response would be:

(a) To empathize with the sufferings of the people affected by natural calamity, and

(b) To sub-serve long term and short term policy objectives of the Government.

(B) Administrative Response:

The response of the administration to a situation arising out of a natural calamity can be on account of:

(a) A follow-up of a policy objective of the Government;

(b) The need for an assessment of the situation and for a central response;

(c) States’ requests for central assistance; and

(d) The need for information as a governance objective.

(C) Central Response:

Central Government’s response, at the policy level, to a natural calamity would lead to central initiatives in the form of:

(a) Visits of the calamity affected areas by President, Prime Minister and other dignitaries;

(b) Activating the administrative machinery for assisting in relief measures; and

(c) Setting up a machinery for implementing, reviewing and monitoring of relief measures.

The administrative response at the Central Government level would broadly relate to:

(i) Operational requirements; and

(ii) Provision of central assistance as per existing policy.

The operational aspects of the administrative response could, further, be classified into:

(i) Primary relief functions, and

(ii) Secondary relief functions.

The primary relief functions of the Central Government would relate to:

1. Forecasting and operation of warning system;

2. Maintenance of uninterrupted communication;

3. Wide publicity to warnings of impending calamity, disaster preparedness and relief measures through TV, AIR and Newspapers;

4. Transport with particular reference to evacuation and movement of essential commodities and petroleum products;

5. Ensuring availability of essential commodities at reasonable prices particularly the commodities through the Public Distribution System;

6. Ensuring availability of medicines, vaccine and drugs;

7. Preservation and restoration of physical communication links;

8. Investments in infrastructure; and

9. Mobilization of financial resources.

The secondary functions of the Central Government which supplement the States relief efforts, would relate to:

1. Flood/inflow forecasts from the Central Water Commission;

2. Relief, rehabilitation and restoration through military aid to civil authorities;

3. Contingency plans for crops, cattle preservation nutrition and health measures;

4. Technical and technological inputs for provision of drinking water;

5. Technical assistance in the water budgeting and water management for various uses;

6. Coordination of the activities of the State agencies and voluntary agencies.

Essay # 4. Procedure for Extending Financial Assistance to States During Natural Calamities:

The present scheme of financing the relief expenditure arising out of natural calamities has come into force w.e.f. 1st April, 1990, consequent upon the acceptance of the recommendations of the Ninth Finance Commission. Under this scheme, a Calamity Relief Fund (CRF) is constituted for each state with certain amount allocated to each state.

75% of this amount is to be contributed by the Central Government in four quarterly installments and the balance 256 is to be provided by the State Governments from its own resources. Following the constitution of the CRF, it is the responsibility of the State Government to meet all expenditure arising out of the natural calamities.

Monitoring the Progress of Relief Measures:

An Export Group has been constituted on the recommendations of the Ninth Finance Commission to monitor the relief work done, utilizing the CRF. Further, the State Level Committee(s) are to keep the Ministry of Agriculture informed of the amount of damage caused due to drought, floods etc., as well as the broad details of relief measures undertaken by them. The Scarcity Relief Division, in the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, the requested the State Governments to furnish the progress of relief measures in the prescribed proforma on quarterly basis.

State Relief Organisations and Response:

Most of the States have Relief Commissioners who are in charge of the relief measures in the wake of natural calamities in their respective states. In the absence of the Relief Commissioner, the Chief Secretary or an officer nominated by him shall be in overall charge of the relief operations in the concerned state. The effectiveness of communication links with field agencies may be reviewed through periodical exercises.

State Crisis Management Group:

There will be a State Crisis Management Group (SCMG) under the Chairmanship of Chief Secretary Relief Commissioner. This Group will comprise of senior officers from the Departments of Revenue! Relief, Home, Civil Supplies, Power, Irrigation, Water Supply, Panchayat (local self-government), Agriculture, Forests, Rural Development, Health, Planning, Public Works and Finance.

The Chief Secretary/Relief Commissioner may also co-opt on the Group, depending upon the requirements of the situation, one or more of the following persons:

1. Sub Area Commander/Section Commander

2. Station Commander of Air Force

3. Flag Officer Commander-in-Chief

4. Chairman/Secretary, Indian Red Cross, State branch

5. Representative of Meteorological Department officer-in-charge, Cyclone Warning Centre, CWC and Flood Forecasting Organisations.

6. General Manager, Railways of the zone concerned

7. General Manager, Telephones

8. Chief General Manager, Telecommunications

9. D.G. of State Police

10. Chief Engineer, Roads and Buildings

11. Chief Engineer, Major Irrigation

12. Chief Engineer, Panchayati Raj

13. Chief Engineer, Urban Water Supply

14. Chief Engineer

15. Director of Agriculture

16. Director of Horticulture

17. Director of Medical Health Services

18. Director of Animal Husbandry

19. Secretary of the State Electricity Board

20. Secretary, Dept. of Women and Child Development

21. P.H.E., Dept./Water Supply and Sewerage Board

22. Station Director AIR/DDK

23. Chief Engineer, Border Road Organisations

24. Director, Civil Supplies

25. Regional Manager, Indian Oil Corporation

26. Director, Local Bodies.

SCMG Responsibilities:

The SCMG will, take into consideration the instructions and guidance received, from time to time, from the Government of India and formulate action plans for dealing with different natural calamities. The SCMG will also have the district level plans for relief formulated by Collectors! Deputy Commissioners.

State Level Control Room:

The Relief Commissioner of the state shall establish an Emergency Operation Centre (Control Room) as soon as a disaster situation develops. The Control Room shall have alt information relating to the forecasting and warning of disaster, action plans for implementation and details of contact paints and various concerned agencies. It shall have updated information about the Air Force, the Navy and the Army for quick interaction.

State Level Control Room Responsibilities:

The Control Room will be responsible for:

1. Transmitting to the Central Relief Commissioner information as to the development of a crisis situation as a result of natural disaster on continue basis till the situation improves;

2. Receiving instructions and communicating to the appropriate agencies, for immediate action;

3. Collection and submission of information relating to implementation of relief measures to the Central Relief Commissioner; and

4. Keeping the State level authorities apprised of the developments on a continuing basis.

Essay # 5. District Level Response to Natural Calamities:

Focal Point:

The collector or Deputy Commissioner will be the focal point at the district level for preparation of the district level plans and for directing, supervising and monitoring relief measures for natural calamities.

Contingency Plans:

At the district level, the disaster relief plans shall provide for specific tasks and agencies for their implementation in respect of the areas given in Annexure in relation to different types of calamities.

A contingency plan for the district far different disasters shall be drawn up by the Collector/ Deputy Commissioner and got approved by the State Government. The Collector/Deputy Commissioner should also coordinate and secure the input from the local defence forces unit in preparation of the contingency plans. These Contingency plans must lay down specific action points key personnel and contact points in relation to mail aspects.

District Relief Committee:

The relief measures shall be reviewed by the district level. Relief committee consisting of official and non-official members including the local legislators and the members of Parliament.

District Control Room:

In the wake of natural calamities a Control Room shall be set up in the district for day to day monitoring of the rescue and relief operations on a continuing basis.

Coordination:

The Collector shall maintain Close liaison with the Central Government authorities in the districts, namely, Army, Air Force and Navy, Ministry of Water Resources etc., who could supplement the effort of the district administration in the rescue and relief operations.

The Collector/Deputy Commissioner shall take all steps for enlistment of voluntary efforts and channelising the non-Government organisations response to natural calamities.

The Collector shall closely interact with different implementation agencies and furnish information on a daily basis to the State Relief Commissioner on the implementation of rescue and relief measures.

Review of Contingency Plans:

The district level contingency; plans and the State Actin Plans should be reviewed annually and updated in the light of lessons learnt in dealing with natural calamities from time to time. Copies of the revised/updated contingency plans at State and district level should also available in the Ministry of Agriculture (Control Room).

Essay # 6. Effective Implementation of Relief Measures in the Wake of Natural Calamities:

For effective implementation of relief measures in the wake of a natural calamity, the Cabinet may set up a committee. On the constitution of such a committee of the Cabinet, the Agriculture Secretary shall provide all necessary information to and seek directions if any, of the Cabinet Committee in all matters concerning relief in the wake of natural calamity and take steps for effective implementation of its directions. In the absence of such a Cabinet Committee, all matter relating to relief shall be reported to the Cabinet Secretary.

National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC):

A National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) has been constituted in the Cabinet Secretariat.

The composition of the Committee is as under:

1. Cabinet Secretary Chairman

2. Secretary to Prime Minister Member

3. Secretary (MHA) Member

4. Secretary (MCD) Member

5. Director (IB) Member

6. Secretary (R&AW) Member

7. Secretary (Agri & Coopn.) Co-opted Member

8. An officer of Cabinet Secretariat. Convener

When a situation is to be handled also by the NCMC, it will give such directions to the Crisis Management Group of the Ministry as deemed necessary. The Secretary (A&C) will be responsible for ensuring that all developments are brought to the notice of the NCMC promptly.

Crisis Management Group:

There shall be a Crisis Management Group (CMG) for dealing with matters relating to relief in the wake of major natural calamities, consisting of the following:

1. Relief Commissioner Chairman

2. OSD, Cabinet Sect, or a Representative of the Cabinet Sect.

3. A representative of PMO.

4. Joint Secretaries in the Ministries/Depts. of Finance, Food, Civil Supplies, Power, Urban Development, Rural Development, Health, Petroleum, Planning Commission and Deptt. of Women & Child Dev.

5. Director General, India Meteorological Department.

6. Senior officers of the Ministry of Railways/Railway Board and Ministry of Water Resources.

7. A senior officer from the Ministry of Communications

8. A senior officer from the Ministry of Transport dealing with road communication

9. Director General, Civil Defense

10. Joint Secretary, Ministry of Defense

11. Joint Secretary (SR) and Addl. Relief Commissioner

The Resident Commissioners of the States affected by major natural calamity may be coopted on the CMG during the period of crisis.

The names, addresses of office and residence telephone Nos. of all the members will be maintained by the Scarcity Relief Division and the Control Room.

CMG-Meeting:

The CMG will meet atleast twice in a year in the months of December/January and May/ June and as often as may be required by the Relief Commissioner. The CMG will meet in the Chamber of Relief Commissioner in Krishi Bhavan, New Delhi unless otherwise indicated.

The CMG will:

1. Review every year Contingency Plans formulated by the Central Ministries/Departments,

2. Review the measures required for dealing with a natural calamity,

3. Coordinate the activities of the Central Ministries and the State Governments in relation to disaster preparedness and relief, and

4. Obtain information from the Nodal officers on measures relating to the above.

The nodal officer of each Ministry/Department would be responsible for the formulation of a Detailed Action Plan (DAP) clearly laying down the channel and manner of interaction, between agencies engaged in these functions, details of the contact points, and the specific measures and time-frames for their implementation.

The specific action plan of individual Ministry/Department shall be submitted to the Central Relief Commissioner. The CMG will review these action plans every year and get them updated from time to time.

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Environment

The impact of natural disasters.

natural calamities and their effect on human life essay

How Do Tsunamis Affect Human Lives?

Natural disasters can have a life-altering impact on the millions of individuals and families who are impacted each year. The effect of natural disasters is then also felt at the community, city and national levels. Natural disasters can have huge environmental impacts as well, even when human communities are relatively unaffected. Natural disaster preparedness is a hugely important undertaking for many cities and settlements, as many cities are at increasing risk of serious fatalities and extreme weather events.

Significance

Wind from Hurricane Ike whips past palm trees September 12, 2008 in Galveston, Texas.

Even before the industrialization of the modern world, natural disasters have been an inevitable part of life. There are records of the migratory travels of Native Americans away from coastal Florida specifically to avoid seasonal hurricanes, and natural disasters can be found across many texts and stories throughout history. As a result of human-driven climate change, many natural disasters have seen an increase in both frequency and intensity. Floods and fires that would have happened once a generation, are now seen on the scale of years. This translates to increased global impact of natural disasters at all levels.

Some natural disasters might not fall into a typical category like wildfires or tornados. The recent COVID-19 pandemic was a large-scale loss of life because of natural hazards. One of the biggest dangers with natural disasters of all kinds can actually be how governments and individuals respond. Policymakers and political groups can often impact disaster recovery and emergency management because of ideological disagreement that prevents action from being taken.

Individual Impact

People rest and charge devices at a shelter for those affected by Superstorm Sandy at Saints Peter and Paul Church on November 1, 2012 in Hoboken, New Jersey.

At the individual level, the negative impacts of natural disasters can often be felt physically, mentally and emotionally. Natural disasters can cause destruction of property, loss of financial resources, and personal injury or illness. The loss of resources, security and access to shelter can lead to massive population migrations in many countries.

After experiencing a natural disaster, many individuals develop severe post-traumatic stress disorders or withdraw into states of depression. Others develop negative associations with the environment, in more developed nations; this can also lead to significant population migrations. As mental health and physical health suffers, the individual impact of disasters can extend far beyond the visual negative effects of a natural disaster. This can lead to further crises in public health, and these impacts are often disproportionately experienced along socioeconomic lines because of deprecated health systems and unequal access to health care.

Low-income individuals and areas are more likely to feel greater and longer lasting impacts of natural disasters, and developing countries face a similar challenge because their infrastructure is often less resilient. This can lead to even more detrimental effects on economic development.

Economic Impact

Homes destroyed by the Waldo Canyon fire are seen from the air in a neighborhood on June 30, 2012 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Mississippi gulf coast. In New Orleans alone, more than 200,000 homes were destroyed; over 70 percent of the resident population had to be at least temporarily relocated outside of the greater New Orleans area. Huge sums of federal assistance were necessary to help jump start recovery efforts in the city and surrounding region. Estimates of over $105 to $150 billion in reduced tax revenue, loss of infrastructure, expense of reclamation efforts, and loss of normal revenue were lost to the city. Beyond the economic losses to New Orleans, it is estimated that the United States economy suffered a 2 percent loss of overall gross domestic product within one year of the disaster as a direct result of the hurricane and its impact on this important international port city.

More frequent and consistently larger hurricanes have been battering the east coast as far north as New York City, and the affected areas experience injuries, deaths, and serious impacts on economic growth.

Community Impact

Listing palm trees and upended light poles are left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina August 29, 2005 on Canal Street in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Communities that experience a natural disaster must also absorb the impacts of these destructive events. Many local communities lose economic resources and the resulting recovery process becomes difficult, if not almost impossible. Some communities find opportunity in the aftermath of a disaster to rebuild better and stronger communities than before. Communities often deal with population, demographic, and cultural shifts as a result of the impact of the natural disaster on their individual citizens.

Just as nature can change the landscape of our personal lives as well as aspects of our community, so too can different types of disasters drastically alter the natural environment. The cyclones that occurred in Myanmar in 2008, or the wildfires that spread throughout California in 2009 are examples of how areas of land that detail whole ecosystems can be dramatically damaged or transformed from a single disaster event.

Climate change continues to amplify the intensity of natural disasters. Droughts, heatwaves, landslides, tsunamis, and tropical storms are all predicted to only worsen in scope and scale. Even though wealthier countries have emitted the most greenhouse gasses, contributing to climate change, developing countries are expected to bear the brunt of these worsening conditions.

Other natural disasters like volcanic eruptions and earthquakes are largely independent of human activity. They still have a terrifying impact on people, with the 2010 earthquake in Haiti claiming hundreds of thousands of lives.

What We Can Do

Natural disasters can seem bleak and terrifying in scale, but there are many steps we can take to protect people and settlements from future harm. Risk assessment is a combined field of geography, policy, economics, and science that works towards disaster risk reduction. This might include local solutions like levies or controlled burning of forests, or it might extend to global goals and action.

The United Nations published a list of sustainability goals focusing on the well-being and preservation of human life around the world. When countries, communities, and individuals work together to improve protections and reduce impacts we can seriously improve the outcomes of natural disasters everywhere.

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About the Author

Malik Sharrieff is a marketing and business communications professional in New Orleans. He has more than 15 years of experience in marketing, public relations and customer relationship management; over eight years of experience as an academic writer; and as an online journalist for two years.

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Home — Essay Samples — Environment — Natural Disasters — Natural Disasters: Causes and Impacts

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Natural Disasters: Causes and Impacts

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Words: 682 |

Published: Jan 31, 2024

Words: 682 | Page: 1 | 4 min read

Table of contents

Introduction, definition of natural disasters, causes of natural disasters, environmental effects of natural disasters, economic effects of natural disasters, social effects of natural disasters, mitigation and preparedness measures.

  • Callaghan, K., & Alexander, M. (2018). Hurricane Harvey on the Gulf Coast: A Comprehensive Analysis of Impacts. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Kennedy School.
  • IPCC. (2014). Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Cambridge University Press.
  • McMahon, J., & Keefer, J. (2016). Social Vulnerability and Tropical Cyclones in Sint Maarten. Journal of Water and Climate Change , 7(2), 396-408.
  • UNDRR. (2017). Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction. United Nations.
  • Vos, F., Dykes, J., & Pierce, L. (2017). Flood Preparedness and Early-warning System Effectiveness in the Philippines. Disasters, 41(S1), S16-S37.

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natural calamities and their effect on human life essay

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  • Introduction

Frequency and disaster patterns

Damage and deaths, disaster warning systems.

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  • Can people cause avalanches?
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earthquake. Heavily damaged school in the town of Yingxiu after a major earthquake struck China's Sichuan Province on May 12, 2008.

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natural disaster , any calamitous occurrence generated by the effects of natural, rather than human-driven, phenomena that produces great loss of human life or destruction of the natural environment , private property, or public infrastructure . A natural disaster may be caused by weather and climate events or by earthquakes , landslides , and other occurrences that originate at Earth ’s surface or within the planet itself. No spot on Earth is immune from a natural disaster; however, certain types of disasters are often limited to or occur more frequently in specific geographic regions.

Can we predict natural disasters?

Weather- and climate-driven natural disasters include flooding caused by heavy rains associated with hurricanes and typhoons ( tropical cyclones ) and other intense storms; drought , famine , and wildfires brought on by heat waves and shifts in precipitation patterns; wind -generated devastation caused by tropical cyclones, tornadoes , derechos , and other windstorms ; and damage and loss of life caused by blizzards and heavy snowfalls. Earth-driven natural disasters include large volcanic eruptions (which produce lava flows, explosions, toxic gas clouds, ash falls, and pyroclastic flows that damage populated areas) and strong earthquakes (which result from the sudden fracturing of Earth’s crust ) powerful enough to damage or destroy built-up areas near their origin points.

natural calamities and their effect on human life essay

Some phenomena that produce natural disasters may be caused by a combination of several different forces. For example, landslides (the movement of large masses of rock , debris, and soil downslope) may be caused by rains that saturate the soil on an unstable slope, or they may be triggered by earthquakes. In a similar manner, the buildup of snow on mountain slopes increases the risks of localized avalanches . Tsunamis , catastrophic ocean waves that can rise as high as 30 metres (about 100 feet) above normal sea level , are produced by submarine earthquakes, underwater or coastal landslides, volcanic eruptions, or meteor or comet impacts. The largest tsunamis are fast-moving waves that can travel across oceans to wreak havoc in coastal areas separated thousands of kilometres from one another.

natural calamities and their effect on human life essay

Certain types of natural disasters are more likely to occur in specific geographic regions, and in some places these events occur with seasonal regularity, as in the spring tornado season in the United States or the summer-and-fall hurricane season in the Atlantic Ocean , Caribbean Sea , and the Gulf of Mexico . Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are most frequent near tectonic plate boundaries, and an especially active boundary exists between the Indo-Australian and Eurasian plates.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO)—a United Nations (UN) agency that monitors Earth’s land, water , and atmosphere —reported in 2021 that the number of natural disasters per decade showed a fivefold increase from 1979 to 2019, and data collected in the EM-DAT, an international disaster database maintained by the Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters, Brussels, indicate that more than 300 disasters have been tallied each year since 1998. Though many natural disasters are neither preventable nor largely predictable, the WMO report notes that global warming —an increasingly human-driven phenomenon generated by the emission of greenhouse gases , specifically those released by the combustion of fossil fuels —is increasing the frequency of weather- and climate-related natural disasters, such as droughts, heat waves, increasingly intense hurricanes, and flooding due to sea-level rise. Warmer temperatures are causing more extreme weather events by delivering more precipitation to some areas—which may be unused to receiving heavy rains and snows, increasing flooding risk—while delivering less to other areas that rely on it, increasing drought risk. In addition, reliable sources of rainfall, such as the South Asian monsoon , on which agriculture of the Indian subcontinent has long depended, are becoming less predictable, and rain events have become more violent and dangerous, damaging crops and producing more intense flooding. This change has subjected some areas under the monsoon’s influence to extended drought conditions, whereas other areas receive too much rainfall, a pattern that scientists predict will worsen in the 21st century.

natural calamities and their effect on human life essay

The costs of individual natural disasters frequently reach the tens of billions of dollars. Such costs may be associated with damage to crops, buildings, and infrastructure that occurs annually in areas prone to tropical cyclone activity or heavy seasonal rains, with some events, such as the Pakistan floods of 2022 and Hurricane Katrina (which struck the southern United States in 2005), costing more than $30 billion and $186 billion, respectively. Similarly, costs associated with earthquakes, which occur less regularly, can be high (such as China ’s Sichuan earthquake of 2008 and Japan ’s Kōbe earthquake of 1995 , which incurred costs estimated at more than $86 billion and more than $100 billion, respectively).

The number of deaths from natural disasters also varies by location and the intensity of the event; however, the overall trend points to a decline from several hundreds of thousands of deaths annually during the first half of the 20th century to roughly 45,000 deaths globally each year. The number of deaths also varies widely from year to year, with smaller natural disasters (or natural disasters occurring in areas far from human settlement) killing few and shockingly large disasters producing truly massive losses of life. Some of the most notable catastrophic disasters in history include the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 (which killed more than 225,000 people), the Tangshan earthquake of 1976 (which resulted in more than 242,000 deaths), the 2010 Haiti earthquake (which by some estimates may have killed at least 300,000 people), and China’s Shaanxi province earthquake of 1556 (which killed more than 800,000 people).

Although deaths from natural disasters have decreased overall, people in lower-income countries often suffer disproportionately, because these locations have fewer resources and thus greater vulnerability to the elements and to food insecurity . In contrast, highly developed countries have better infrastructure (for communications, evacuation procedures, the movement of resources, and the delivery of medical services). In addition, high-income countries can implement policies that limit construction in flood-prone areas or mandate the construction of more earthquake-resistant homes, office buildings, and other structures, thereby reducing the risk of crushing injury and death stemming from building collapses. Consequently, relatively few people die from earthquakes in California , a location well-known for its strong building codes with respect to withstanding earthquakes, compared with places such as Iran and Pakistan, where building codes are either less stringent or whose codes frequently go unenforced.

natural calamities and their effect on human life essay

Advances in weather forecasting and advances in land-based seismic sensors and sensors placed aboard satellites , aircraft, and stationary buoys floating in the world’s oceans have led to the development of various kinds of early warning systems. In some cases, these systems are capable of predicting or accurately classifying the strength of the physical forces that generate natural disasters before they cause damage. The perhaps most widespread and best known of these systems are those used by national weather bureaus that classify, track, and predict various weather events and issue bulletins about storms and other weather and climate phenomena affecting their land areas and sea zones. National weather bureaus are often made up of a network of numerous local offices spread across a country that gauge local weather conditions several times per day. Data collected by these offices can be used to develop weather models that help to predict the strength of a storm , as well as its location, days in advance of its arrival in a local area.

In addition, specialized units within national governments—such as the China Earthquake Administration, the Japan Meteorological Agency, the United Kingdom’s Met Office, India’s National Center of Seismology, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , and the U.S. Geological Survey—monitor specific physical forces capable of causing the most damaging and deadly natural disasters (that is, earthquakes, tsunamis, droughts , flooding, and winds driven by tornadoes and tropical cyclones). Many of these organizations within specific countries cooperate with their counterparts in others or assist international organizations, such as the WMO and the International Tsunami Information Center, to issue warnings, develop international safety standards, and assess the risks associated with forces that affect several countries or the planet as a whole. Some early warning systems even look beyond Earth’s atmosphere; the near-Earth objects system operated by the European Space Agency and the Scout and Sentry impact hazard systems run by NASA in the United States are a few of several systems designed to detect, track, and predict the risk associated with asteroids , comets, and other extraterrestrial objects capable of striking Earth.

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Natural Disaster Essay: How to Write, Topics, & Examples

What would you do if someone told you that a tsunami would wipe out your house tomorrow afternoon? You won’t believe them. It always seems that natural disasters happen in someone else’s life. But every year, millions of people worldwide suffer from various natural calamities. This article attempts to systemize the chaos of nature for you to write an impressive natural disaster essay. You will get acquainted with the seven types of disasters, get a long list of topics and examples of natural disaster essay in 200 words and 300 words.

  • 🌪️ Natural Disaster: The Basics
  • 💡 114 Essay Topics
  • 📑 Outlining Your Essay
  • 🌊 Essay Sample (200 Words)
  • 🏜️ Essay Sample (300 Words)

🌪️ Natural Disaster Essay: What Is It About?

A natural disaster is a large-scale meteorological or geological event that can to cause loss of life or massive damage to people’s property. Floods and severe storms are the most reported acts of nature in the US, but other incidents also happen from time to time. That is why you can dedicate your essay on natural disasters to earthquakes, droughts, wildfires, floods, tsunamis, hurricanes, or tornadoes.

The picture lists the 7 main types of natural disasters.

It is a powerful funnel-shaped cloud that rotates and demolishes buildings, hurls cars, and uproots trees. Tornadoes appear from cumulonimbus clouds, pending with their smaller part to the ground. This column of air has a wind speed of up to 300 mph. In your disaster management essay, you can suggest reasonable precautions to save as many people and property as possible in a tornado area.
It is a tropical cyclone that affects the coastal population of the southern Atlantic Ocean, eastern , Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico. These acts of nature may include heavy winds, floods, and tornadoes. For this reason, you can describe natural disasters’ impact on human life in the essay.
Floods are the most common natural disaster in the US. They usually occur when the volume of water in a stream is larger than the channel’s capacity. Then, the land that is typically dry gets submerged. Streamflow depends on numerous factors making floods hard to predict.
This Japanese word (‘tsu’ for harbor and ‘nami’ for wave) denominates powerful waves caused by an underwater earthquake, land slumping, landslides on the seafloor, meteorite impact, or volcanic eruption in the ocean. In a tsunami disaster essay, you could describe a historical tragedy and analyze its causes.
This type of disaster starts when lightning hits a tree in the wood or due to man-made causes. It is an unplanned and uncontrolled spread of fire in natural areas with combustible vegetation.
It is an extended lack of water in a given region. A drought can happen due to the below-normal precipitation. It causes crop damage and water shortage in the area. It can last for years or end in weeks.
It is the result of seismic waves in the Earth’s crust. Tectonic plates shake or move, damaging everything that stands or lives on them. Some of them may be caused by anthropogenic factors.

💡 114 Natural Disasters Essay Topics

What could you write in a natural disaster essay? You can invent your own topic about various types of natural disasters, their causes, and aftermath, or their impact on human life and the economy. Depending on the discipline, you can also describe historic calamities that changed the direction of human civilization. Alternatively, choose one from our comprehensive list below.

  • Why are the Great Plains of the central US ideal for tornado formation?
  • Global Warming and Climate Change Legislation.
  • Research the atmospheric parameters inside a tornado.
  • Energy, Technology and Climate Change.
  • Why are the boundaries of Tornado Alley in the US so debatable?
  • The global climate change as a manmade disaster.
  • Which actions should you never do when a tornado is nearby?
  • Volunteers’ Role During Disasters.
  • Suggest your opinion on the best action strategy in a hurricane.
  • The Columbia Disaster and safety violations.
  • What were the causes and effects of a flood?
  • Analysis on Climate Change and Global Impact.
  • Describe the most devastating wildfires in the US and find their common features.
  • Earthquake Engineering Considerations and Methods.
  • Brainstorm ideas to prevent wildfires.
  • Global warming and the greenhouse effect.
  • How can building dams cause earthquakes?
  • Climate Change and Its Impact on Freshwater.
  • Analyze the impact of droughts on tourism.
  • Climate Change Effect on Coral Reef Communities.
  • Describe the most extended droughts in human history.
  • Marine and Coastal Climate Change in Australia.
  • Write an essay on natural disasters and earthquakes in particular.
  • Air pollution and mortality rates
  • What are the distinctive features of droughts in third-world countries?
  • Global Warming, Climate Change, and Society’s Impact on the Environment.
  • Study the relationship between global warming and droughts.
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder After a Hurricane.
  • Evaluate the damage caused by Hurricane Maria in 2017.
  • Social Media’s Role in Disaster Response.
  • Classify the effects of natural disasters in an essay.
  • Sustainability and Climate Change.
  • Describe the 1815 volcanic eruption of Mt. Tambora, Indonesia.
  • Hurricane Katrina: Overview, Impact, Response.
  • Each new leap of civilization causes new responses of nature.
  • Animal Exploitation. Animal Agriculture and Climate Change.
  • Think of any positive effects a volcanic eruption may have.
  • In Arizona, Collaboration Averts Water Disaster.
  • Children are the poorest victims of any disaster.
  • A Solution to Remedy Climate Change.
  • Which ways of disaster risk reduction do you know?
  • An Emergency Operations Center During Hurricane Harvey.
  • Research the current problems in disaster management.
  • Disaster Recovery Plan for Information Technology Organizations.
  • Analyze ineffective disaster management in an essay about hurricane Katrina.
  • Nurse Competencies and Scope of Practice in Disaster.
  • What should a household have at home in the case of a disaster?
  • Hurricane Katrina: The Powerful Natural Disaster.
  • Describe the humanitarian disaster during the drought in Somalia.
  • Technology in Disaster Preparedness.
  • Can man-made disasters entail natural calamities?
  • Disaster Management in Philadelphia.
  • Review the criteria for disaster classification.
  • Jeddah Floods and Adaptation Strategies in the City of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
  • Search for real examples of hybrid disasters.
  • Natural Disasters Prevention: A Tabletop Exercise.
  • Who is responsible for casualties after a natural disaster?
  • The Sand Storms: Remote Sensing and Meteorological Variables.
  • List the lessons we could learn from our past disaster experience.
  • Fire Development, Growth, and Spreads.
  • The ice storm and silver thaw: A gentle disaster.
  • Fire Crisis Management in the UAE.
  • Rockslides: A pressing issue for rural areas.
  • 1d – 2d Flood Modeling Using PCSWMM.
  • What are the psychological benefits of disaster preparedness?
  • Structural Control and Origin of Volcanism in the Taupo Volcanic Zone.
  • When does a blizzard become a disaster?
  • Extreme Weather Events + Geographies of Globalization.
  • Research the causes of dust storms and name the affected areas.
  • Strategies for Sustainable Integrated Oil Disaster Management in West Africa.
  • Why did the San Francisco earthquake (1906) cause devastating fires?
  • Causes of Climate Change.
  • What could be done to help people who lost their homes in an earthquake?
  • Book Review: Energy and Global Climate Change.
  • Analyze the role of World Vision in humanitarian aid after disasters.
  • Tangshan earthquake of 1976 showed that high population density is disastrous.
  • The Role of Carbon Dioxide in Climate Change.
  • Rock avalanche: Why water is the most powerful geological agent.
  • Aspects of Climate Change.
  • When do extreme weather conditions turn into a disaster?
  • Climate Change: Reasons, Kyoto Protocol.
  • Write an article on shelter-providing organizations for disaster victims.
  • Establishing an IT Disaster Recovery Plan.
  • Describe earthquake cycles in Haiti.
  • Effects of Climate Change on Agriculture and Food.
  • How can nature damage ecology in natural disasters?
  • Climate Change. Problems. Effects.
  • Disaster management should include psychological help to the survivors.
  • Climate Change Causes: Position and Strategies.
  • Suggest ways to prevent damage caused by debris flow.
  • HAT 4: Disaster in Franklin Country.
  • How did the lack of evacuation after the Bhola cyclone (1970) result in the massive death toll?
  • The Effects of Climate Change.
  • The most significant Yellow River flood: 2 million deaths in 1887.
  • Resilience Building Against Natural Disasters in the Caribbean Islands.
  • Sinkholes: A natural disaster or attraction for cavers and water-divers?
  • Global Climate Change and Health.
  • Describe the dynamics of landslides in California.
  • Which early-warning systems to detect avalanches do you know?
  • Los Angeles Regional Collaborative for Climate Action.
  • Pyroclastic flow: The deadliest volcanic hazard.
  • Communication During Disaster Response.
  • Describe the volcano eruption of Vesuvius that destroyed the Herculaneum and Pompeii.
  • Disaster Planning for Families.
  • Disaster prevention measures: Investments that save millions of lives.
  • Natural Disaster Management and Historical Prospective Study in the UAE.
  • Research the PTSD in survivors of natural disasters.
  • Are the latest disasters the nature’s fightback to humanity?
  • Estimate the human impact on natural disasters.
  • List the countries with the largest number of disasters and find their standard features.
  • Everyday Communication on Climate Change.
  • Insurance coverage against disasters: Our inevitable future.
  • Emergency Planning Before and After Hurricane Katrina.
  • One natural disaster could bring the world to its end.

Haven’t found a suitable topic in the list above? Use our essay topic generator to get more ideas.

📑 Natural Disaster Essay Outline

Outlines differ, depending on the assigned length and essay type. It is a reference sample. Feel free to modify it, extending some points and narrowing the others. Still, the overall structure should remain the same. We have chosen the “Causes of Earthquakes” essay topic for demonstrative purposes.

  • Hook . There are millions of possible ways to start your essay, from a rhetorical question to any imaginable scenario. The point is to grab the reader’s attention, showing them that your writing is unique and creative. For example: We are always concerned with the consequences of a natural disaster. But what brought us into such a calamity in the first place?
  • Concepts. Natural disasters can be studied in the framework of various disciplines. But in all cases, they are linked with geology, biology, chemistry, geography, and some other subjects with broad and complicated terminology. Explain the terms that could be elusive for your readers here. For example: For the purposes of this essay, an earthquake is a sudden displacement of the land surface.
  • Background. How did you come to think of this problem? Why is it topical? The causes of earthquakes are numerous and often unrelated. To understand them as a system, we need a strict classification.
  • Thesis statement . Clearly state the aim of your essay. This essay attempts to group the causes of earthquakes to determine which factors can be tackled by human forces.
  • Transition sentence. It comes in the previous sentence (for paragraphs 2 and 3) and ensures smooth reading. E.g.: Tectonic movements are the most powerful causes of earthquakes, and we cannot influence them. But still, there is something we could do.
  • Topic sentence . What will you explain in this paragraph? Human interference with nature can also cause earthquakes.
  • Evidence. How can you confirm the topic sentence? Heavy clubbing of dam water can disturbance the crustal balance. Nuclear bombing causes shockwaves that penetrate the surface, changing the tectonic plates and their natural alignment. Mining can also cause earthquakes by removing extensive volumes of stone from under the ground.
  • Warrant. Why does the reader need this information, and how does it relate to the thesis statement? Knowing these facts can help us change the old-fashioned approaches and lessen the ecological damage to our planet.
  • Summary. Collect and summarize all your arguments here. Tectonic movements, volcano eruptions, and geological faults cause a significant part of earthquakes worldwide. But various man-made causes bring us to the same result.
  • Rephrased thesis. We cannot stop the tectonic movements or hinder volcanic eruptions, but we can use natural resources with more care.

🌊 Natural Disaster Essay 200 Words

Below you will find a short natural disaster essay for 200 words. It explores the causes and effects of the tsunami in Japan in 2011.

Tsunami in Japan: Causes and Effects The proximity of the deadliest disasters is often unpredictable. As a result, the consequences of a tsunami can exceed any possible expectations. This essay looks for the decisive factors that caused the tsunami in Japan in 2011 and its results for the local population and other countries. The causes were out of human control and could not be predicted. The Pacific plate moved in the horizontal and vertical plane, advancing beneath the Eurasian Plate. It displaced the seawater above and entailed several destructive waves. The disaster had enormous consequences for the Japanese people and their economy. It killed almost 16,000 people, although the country had a sophisticated alarming system. Besides, the earthquake caused fires and explosions at oil factories. The cooling system of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant went out of service. Two people were lost, and many were injured. Nissan, like many other large corporations, had to suspend the operation of its four factories. The economic losses due to the catastrophe amounted to 300 billion dollars. But the disaster moved to other places. On 24 March 2011, the earthquake in the east of Myanmar claimed the lives of 60 people and destroyed 300 buildings. As we can see, everything is linked on our planet. Movements of the earth’ crust in any part of the world bring about earthquakes and tsunami in other countries. The series of waves in Japan was caused by the underwater earthquake and had horrible consequences.

🏜️ Natural Disaster Essay 300 Words

If your assignment is longer, you will have to provide your opinion in the essay. Or, you can make your argumentation more detailed. Below you can check our 300-word sample of a disaster essay.

The Economic Effects of the Dust Bowl Drought When someone says “a natural disaster,” we usually imagine an earthquake or a tsunami. Buildings are destroyed, and property is lost. But imagine a scenario of a devastating drought, which happened in the US in the 1930s. Its effect is less visible because it lies in the domain of the national economy. This essay reveals the economic consequences of the Dust Bowl drought. During the third decade of the XX century, strong winds raised choking dust in the southern states, from Texas to Nebraska. People and animals died as the crops failed in the area for several years in a row. The Dust Bowl lasted for almost a decade and was also called “the Dirty Thirties.” This drought intensified the impact of the Great Depression. Local farmers had to migrate to urban areas in search of better conditions and other sources of living. About 2.5 million people moved West from the worst-hit states, namely New Mexico, Texas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Kansas. But they found only discrimination, meager salaries, and inhuman working conditions. Many had to live in tents near irrigation ditches. They were called “Okies,” a disdainful name for migrants of any state. Regular rains returned to the southern states by the end of 1939, closing the drought. However, the economic aftermath persisted. The counties that suffered the most failed to recover the agricultural value of their land till the 1950s. Thus, the local population kept decreasing for twenty years. Although a drought does not ruin property, it can tangibly lower human life levels. The Dust Bowl threw people into a lose-lose situation. Their farms were unfit for gaining any profit, and the new places of living gave them no better opportunities. It took two decades to restore public wellbeing in the Southern States.

Researching the worst acts of nature can teach you to value what you have. We hope that this article has made your creative writing more manageable and pleasurable. You can write an essay of any length by simply following our outline. All you will need to do after that is make a cover page for it.

Please share your natural disaster essay ideas in the comments below.

❓ Natural Disaster Essay FAQ

How to write an essay about natural disaster.

Your approach should depend on the discipline. But in any case, you can discuss the types of disasters, their consequences, characteristics, and preconditions. The excellent idea is to select a past disastrous event and analyze it from the economic, social, or individual point of view.

What Is a Disaster Essay?

A disaster essay explores the stages of a natural or man-made calamity and seeks the possible ways to prevent similar emergencies in the future. An article on disaster management studies the correct and efficient activities to lower the casualties and property loss after a disaster.

What Is Disaster Preparedness Essay?

This type of writing analyzes the level of readiness of a region or municipality to an unexpected natural disaster. You can highlight the vulnerable groups of the population that will suffer the most. Or, you may invent measures that could reduce the disaster response and coping time. Such assignments teach you strategic thinking and a systematic approach to problem-solving.

How to Describe a Natural Disaster for an Essay?

You should specify that the event was unexpected and led to many deaths and property loss. The most critical things include the causes of the disaster, its progress and duration, and the negative consequences for the locals. You can also specify the negative effect on the economy and humanitarian condition of the area.

🔗 References

  • Natural Disasters and Severe Weather | CDC
  • Types of Disasters | SAMHSA
  • Natural Disaster – an overview | ScienceDirect Topics
  • Natural Disasters – National Geographic
  • What Is Disaster Management: Prevention and Mitigation

Natural Disasters Essay for Students and Children

500+ words essay on natural disasters.

A Natural disaster is an unforeseen occurrence of an event that causes harm to society. There are many Natural disasters that damage the environment and the people living in it. Some of them are earthquakes , cyclones, floods, Tsunami , landslides, volcanic eruption, and avalanches. Spatial extent measures the degree or severity of the disaster.

Essay on natural disaster

Levels of Disaster

The severity or degree of damage can be further divided into three categories:

Small Scale Disasters: Small scale disasters are those that extend from 50 Kms. to 100 Kms. So this kind of disasters does not cause much damage.

Medium-scale disasters: Medium Scale disasters extend from 100 Kms to 500 Kms. These cause more damage than a small scale disaster. Moreover, they can cause greater damage if they occur in colonial states.

Large Scale Disasters: These disasters cover an area of more than 1000 Kms. These cause the most severe damage to the environment. Furthermore, these disasters can even take over a country if the degree is high. For instance, the wiping out of the dinosaurs was because of a large scale natural disaster.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Types of Disasters

natural calamities and their effect on human life essay

Causes: These can cause of releasing of the energy. This release is from the core of the earth. Furthermore, the release of energy causes seismic waves. Rupturing of geological faults causes earthquakes. But other events like volcanic eruptions, landslides mine blasts can also cause it.

Landslides: Landslides is the moving of big boulders of rocks or debris down a slope. As a result, landslides occur on mountains and hilly areas. Moreover, landslides can cause destruction to man-made things in many ways.

Causes: Gravitational pull, volcanic eruptions , earthquakes can cause landslides. Moreover, soil erosion due to deforestation is also a cause of landslides.

Avalanches: Avalanches are like landslides. But instead of rocks thousand tons of snow falls down the slope. Moreover, this causes extreme damage to anything that comes in its way. People who live in snowy mountains always have fear of it.

Causes: Avalanches takes places when there is a large accumulation of snow on the mountains. Moreover, they can also occur from earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Furthermore, the chances of surviving an avalanche are very less. This is because people die of hypothermia in it.

Tsunami: Tsunami is the production of very high waves in oceans and seas. Moreover, the displacement of the ground causes these high waves. A tsunami can cause floods if it occurs near shores. A Tsunami can consist of multiple waves. Moreover, these waves have a high current. Therefore it can reach coastlines within minutes. The main threat of a tsunami is if a person sees a Tsunami he cannot outrun it.

Causes: Tsunami is unlike normal eaves that occur due to the wind. But Tsunami is waves that occur by ground displacement. Thus earthquakes are the main causes of Tsunamis.

FAQs on Essay on natural disaster

Q1.What are natural disasters?

A1. Natural Disasters are unforeseen events that cause damage to the environment and the people.

Q2.Name some Natural disasters.

A2. Some Natural Disasters are earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, Landslides, floods, Tsunami, avalanches. Natural disasters can cause great damage to human society. But preventive measures can be taken to reduce the damage from these disasters.

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Human activity the common link between disasters around the world

Cyclone Amphan made landfall in eastern India on Wednesday afternoon local time.

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Disasters such as cyclones, floods, and droughts are more connected than we might think, and human activity is the common thread, a UN report released on Wednesday reveals.

The study from the UN University, the academic and research arm of the UN, looks at 10 different disasters that occurred in 2020 and 2021, and finds that, even though they occurred in very different locations and do not initially appear to have much in common, they are, in fact, interconnected.

A consequence of human influence

The study builds on the ground-breaking Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) assessment released on 9 August, and based on improved data on historic heating, which showed that human influence has warmed the climate at a rate that is unprecedented in at least the last 2,000 years. António Guterres, the UN Secretary-General described the IPCC assessment as a “code red for humanity”.

Over the 2020-2021 period covered by the UN University, several record-breaking disasters took place, including the COVID-19 pandemic, a cold wave which crippled the US state of Texas, wildfires which destroyed almost 5 million acres of Amazon rainforest, and 9 heavy storms in Viet Nam - in the span of only 7 weeks.

Arctic-Texas link

Extreme weather in Texas has brought unseasonal snow storms resulting in widespread electricity blackouts across the US state.

Whilst these disasters occurred thousands of miles apart, the study shows how they are related to one another, and can have consequences for people living in distant places.

An example of this is the recent heatwave in the Arctic and cold wave in Texas. In 2020, the Arctic experienced unusually high air temperatures, and the second-lowest amount of sea ice cover on record.

This warm air destabilized the polar vortex, a spinning mass of cold air above the North Pole, allowing colder air to move southward into North America, contributing to the sub-zero temperatures in Texas, during which the power grid froze up, and 210 people died.

COVID and the Cyclone

The refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar are the world’s largest, hosting 860 thousand Rohingya from Myanmar..

Another example of the connections between disasters included in the study and the pandemic, is Cyclone Amphan, which struck the border region of India and Bangladesh.

In an area where almost 50 per cent of the population is living under the poverty line, the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns left many people without any way to make a living, including migrant workers who were forced to return to their home areas and were housed in cyclone shelters while under quarantine.

When the region was hit by Cyclone Amphan, many people, concerned over social distancing, hygiene and privacy, avoided the shelters and decided to weather the storm in unsecure locations. In the aftermath, there was a spike in COVID-19 cases, compounding the 100 fatalities directly caused by Amphan, which also caused damage in excess of 13 billion USD and displaced 4.9 million people.

Root causes

Mr Nam holds Phuc and calms him after Phuc knew that he could not find his favorite tree any more

The new report identifies three root causes that affected most of the events in the analysis: human-induced greenhouse gas emissions, insufficient disaster risk management, and undervaluing environmental costs and benefits in decision-making.

The first of these, human induced greenhouse gas emissions, is identified as one of the reasons why Texas experienced freezing temperatures, but these emissions also contribute to the formation of super cyclones such as Cyclone Amphan, on the other side of the world.

Insufficient disaster risk management, notes the study, was one of the reasons why Texas experienced such high losses of life and excessive infrastructure damage during the cold snap, and also contributed to the high losses caused by the Central Viet Nam floods.

The report also shows how the record rate of deforestation in the Amazon is linked to the high global demand for meat: this demand has led to an increase in the need for soy, which is used as animal feed for poultry. As a result, tracts of forest are being cut down.

“What we can learn from this report is that disasters we see happening around the world are much more interconnected than we may realize, and they are also connected to individual behaviour”, says one of the report’s authors, UNU scientist Jack O’Connor. “Our actions have consequences, for all of us,”

Solutions also linked

However, Mr. O’Connor is adamant that, just as the problems are interlinked, so are the solutions.

The report shows that cutting harmful greenhouse gas emissions can positively affect the outcome of many different types of disasters, prevent a further increase in the frequency and severity of hazards, and protect biodiversity and ecosystems.

Interconnected disasters

Interconnected Disaster Risks 2020/2021, is released by the United Nations University’s Institute for Environment and Human Security ( UNU-EHS ), which conducts research on risks and adaptation related to environmental hazards and global change.

The institute’s research promotes policies and programmes to reduce these risks, taking into account the interplay between environmental and societal factors.

Research areas include climate change adaptation by incorporating insurance-related approaches, environmentally-induced migration and social vulnerability, ecosystem-based solutions to adaptation and disaster risk reduction, and models and tools to analyse vulnerability and risks linked to natural hazards.

  • disaster risk management

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  • Published: 30 September 2021

Climate change, natural calamities and the triple burden of disease

  • Mitesh Karn   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-3965-8884 1 &
  • Muna Sharma 2  

Nature Climate Change volume  11 ,  pages 796–797 ( 2021 ) Cite this article

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To the Editor — In recent months, there has been an amplified interest in human disease and wellbeing, as well as increased awareness of the vast global disparities in both health risk and care. Despite the ongoing impacts of COVID-19, in general, many developed countries have undergone an epidemiological transition, resulting in a shift in the major types of disease 1 : the disease pattern has changed to a low burden of communicable and nutrition-deficit diseases and a relatively higher burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and injuries. However, low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are still in a state of transition, and the burden of communicable diseases in these countries remains considerably high. While ongoing economic growth in LMICs has led to some decreases in these communicable diseases, it has simultaneously increased the burden of NCDs and injuries, giving LMICs a ‘triple burden of disease’ 2 . Using the country of Nepal as an example (Box 1 ), we highlight how climate change can further intensify this triple burden of communicable disease, NCDs and injuries, adding to the disproportionate economic costs of climate change for LMICs.

Box 1 Climate change has the potential to increase the triple burden of disease inLMICs such as Nepal

Nepal — a developing, seismically active, landlocked country in Southeast Asia — is among the most vulnerable countries in the world due to its fragile landscape, climate-sensitive ecosystem and socioeconomic circumstance. It is placed on the high-risk list in both the Climate Risk Index and the INFORM Risk Index (for humanitarian crises and disasters) 18 . The geographical diversity of Nepal makes it representative of the effects of climate change occurring across a wide range of LMICs. The lowland Terai region is more affected by seasonal flooding due to monsoon rains and a complex river system. By comparison, the hilly region is affected by landslides and debris flows, and the Himalayas are troubled by avalanche and glacial lake outburst floods. These floods, along with the droughts the land experiences, lead to loss of crop production and a food deficit, pushing many people into poverty. Additionally, Nepal is seismically very active and at high risk of earthquakes, which can potentially affect the whole country. It is estimated that more than 80% of the Nepalese population is at risk from these environmental hazards 18 .

natural calamities and their effect on human life essay

The environmental determinants of health, such as clean air, safe drinking water and sanitation, are affected by climate change, which can increase communicable diseases and infections, NCDs and injuries. In Nepal, while previously prevalent infectious diseases such as helminth infection, cholera, acute gastroenteritis, tetanus, respiratory infections and tuberculosis have decreased with economic development, emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases such as dengue, chikungunya, influenza (H5N1 and H1N1), scrub typhus, leptospirosis, cryptosporidiosis and malaria have increased 3 . Climate change can lead to geographic expansion of infectious diseases 4 , and has already been implicated in the spread of malaria to hilly and mountainous regions of Nepal 3 . Moreover, communicable diarrheal diseases and vector-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue are predicted to increase under climate change 5 , and it is estimated that between 2030 and 2050, climate change will cause 250,000 additional deaths globally per year from communicable and nutritional diseases. Most of these deaths will occur in developing countries 6 . The situation is worsened by the occurrence of disasters such as floods and landslides, which lead to more clustered disease outbreaks and, under climate change, may occur more frequently and less predictably in space and time 7 . For example, in Nepal, floods and landslides are normally expected in the lowland Terai and hilly regions of Nepal but have also increased in the Himalayan region 8 . Such events are responsible for unexpected direct morbidity and mortality in these ill-equipped regions but can also compound water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH)-related health issues 9 . While economic development has improved facilities for agriculture, tourism and transportation, specific changes in LMICs linked to this development — such as rapid urbanization, agricultural expansion and increased transportation — are also responsible for disease spread across different geographical regions 7 .

In addition to communicable diseases, the interplay of demographic and lifestyle factors in many LMICs has led to an increase in NCDs such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes 1 . In Nepal, NCDs are responsible for nearly two-thirds of total deaths, and it is projected that by 2040, about 80% of total deaths in Nepal will be due to NCDs 10 . Climate change further increases the burden of NCDs through both direct and indirect effects 11 , with changing climatic conditions and increasing temperature linked to acute and chronic respiratory illnesses and cardiovascular diseases 12 , as well as to diseases such as cancer 13 . Climate change significantly affects global food systems and, by decreasing the yield, quality and affordability of food in many LMICs, leads to food insecurity and malnutrition, which is in turn linked to chronic disease 14 . Furthermore, beyond direct impacts, many NCDs may be caused by long-term impacts of infectious diseases, the former of which are expected to increase under climate change.

Climate change may also increase the likelihood of injuries that occur due to hydrometeorological and climatological hazards, such as floods, landslides, avalanches, cyclones and wildfires 15 . These types of extreme event produce massive morbidity and mortality, especially in LMICs, as these countries do not have proper preparedness and disaster management plans 16 . In Nepal, between 1971 and 2016, over 26,000 natural disasters were reported, which claimed the lives of over 43,000 Nepalese and left over 83,000 people injured 17 . The trend of disaster occurrence has drastically increased since 2000, probably as a consequence of increasing hazards due to climate change 17 . Furthermore, economic development with increased transportation in LMICs has led to an increase in road traffic accidents, contributing to injury-related morbidity and mortality 10 .

Many LMICs are based on an agrarian economy, with mild-to-moderate support from industry and tourism, and all of these are vulnerable to the effects of climate change. These effects are thus predicted to cause future instability and massive economic losses in these countries. The additive impact of climate on this state of the triple burden of disease in LMICs is often overlooked, yet it will present a challenge to the development and stability in these countries that must be addressed with concrete, effective, practicable and proactive health and climate policy.

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Karn, M., Sharma, M. Climate change, natural calamities and the triple burden of disease. Nat. Clim. Chang. 11 , 796–797 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-021-01164-w

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Cause & Effect Essay: Natural Disasters and Their Causes

Natural disasters happen all over the world, and they can be utterly devastating for people’s lives and the environments in which they live. Although natural disasters are caused by nature and there is nothing that we can do to prevent them happening, there are many different natural causes that lead to natural disasters, and being aware of these causes enables us to be better prepared when such disasters do arrive.

One common natural disaster is flooding, which occurs when a river bursts its banks and the water spills out onto the floodplain. This is far more likely to happen when there is a great deal of heavy rain, so during very wet periods, flood warnings are often put in place. There are other risk factors for flooding too: steep-sided channels cause fast surface run-off, while a lack of vegetation or woodland to both break the flow of water and drink the water means that there is little to slow the floodwater down. Drainage basins of impermeable rock also cause the water to run faster over the surface.

Earthquakes are another common natural disaster that can cause many fatalities. The movements of the plates in the earth’s crust cause them. These plates do not always move smoothly and can get stuck, causing a build-up of pressure. It is when this pressure is released that an earthquake occurs. In turn, an earthquake under the water can also cause a tsunami, as the quake causes great waves by pushing large volumes of water to the surface.

Tsunamis can also be caused by underwater volcanic eruptions. Volcanic eruptions are another natural disaster, and they are caused by magma escaping from inside the earth. An explosion takes place, releasing the magma from a confined space, which is why there are often also huge quantities of gas and dust released during a volcanic eruption. The magma travels up the inside of the volcano, and pours out over the surrounding area as lava.

One of the most common natural disasters, but also one of the most commonly forgotten, is wildfires. These take place in many different countries all over the world, particularly during the summer months, and can be caused by a range of different things. Some of the things that can start the wildfires can be totally natural, while others can be manmade, but the speed at which they spread is entirely down to nature. The two natural causes of wildfires are the sun’s heat and lightning strikes, while they can also be caused by campfires, smoking, fireworks and many other things. The reasons that they spread so quickly are prolonged hot, dry weather, where the vegetation dries out, which is why they often take place in woodland.

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Essay on Effects Of Natural Disasters On Human Life

Students are often asked to write an essay on Effects Of Natural Disasters On Human Life in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Effects Of Natural Disasters On Human Life

Introduction.

Natural disasters are sudden events caused by environmental factors. They include floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, and others. These disasters have significant effects on human life.

Physical Harm

Natural disasters can cause physical harm. Earthquakes can collapse buildings, and floods can sweep people away. Many people get injured, and some may even lose their lives.

Loss of Property

Natural disasters also lead to loss of property. Homes, schools, and hospitals can be destroyed. This leaves people without shelter, disrupting their daily life.

Impact on Mental Health

The trauma caused by natural disasters can impact mental health. People may experience fear, anxiety, and stress, which can lead to mental health issues like depression.

Effect on Economy

Natural disasters have severe impacts on human life. They cause physical harm, property loss, mental health issues, and economic damage. Therefore, it’s essential to prepare for such events to reduce their effects.

250 Words Essay on Effects Of Natural Disasters On Human Life

Natural disasters are sudden events caused by environmental factors that harm people and damage property. Earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and wildfires are examples of natural disasters. These disasters have a big impact on human life.

Loss of Life and Health Issues

The most direct effect of natural disasters is the loss of human life. Many people die during these disasters, and others get hurt. After the disaster, there can be diseases and health problems. For example, floods can cause waterborne diseases like cholera.

Damage to Homes and Infrastructure

Natural disasters can destroy homes, schools, hospitals, and roads. This leaves people without shelter and makes it hard to travel or get medical help. After an earthquake or a hurricane, it can take a long time and a lot of money to rebuild.

Impact on Economy

When natural disasters happen, they can hurt a country’s economy. Businesses may be destroyed, and people may lose their jobs. The cost of rebuilding can be very high. This can lead to poverty and economic hardship.

Psychological Impact

In conclusion, natural disasters have a big impact on human life. They can cause death, injury, damage to homes and infrastructure, economic problems, and mental health issues. It’s important for us to understand these effects so we can try to reduce the harm caused by these disasters.

500 Words Essay on Effects Of Natural Disasters On Human Life

Natural disasters are unexpected events caused by environmental factors that harm humans and the environment. Earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and wildfires are all examples of natural disasters. These disasters can have a big impact on human life. They can change people’s lives in many ways.

Natural disasters can destroy homes and buildings. This can leave many people without a place to live. Roads, bridges, and other important structures can also be damaged. This can make it hard for people to travel or get the things they need.

Impact on Food and Water

Natural disasters can also harm the food and water supply. Floods and droughts can ruin crops. This can lead to food shortages. Similarly, disasters can contaminate water sources. This can make it hard for people to find safe drinking water.

Effect on Education

Economic impact.

Natural disasters can have a big effect on the economy. They can cause a lot of property damage. This can cost a lot of money to repair. Also, businesses may have to close. This can lead to job loss and economic problems.

Psychological Effects

Lastly, natural disasters can cause emotional stress. People may feel scared or sad because of what they have experienced. This can affect their mental health.

In short, natural disasters can have many harmful effects on human life. They can cause death, health problems, and damage to homes. They can also affect food and water supplies, education, the economy, and mental health. It is important for us to understand these effects so we can find ways to help people who are affected by natural disasters.

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Effects of Natural Disasters Essay

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Introduction

Effects of natural disasters on natural resources, effects of natural disasters on physical infrastructure, impacts of natural disasters on population, economic effects of natural disasters, effects of natural disasters on human labor and technology, effects of hurricane katrina to the u.s economy, reference list.

Natural disasters range from climatic cataclysms such as droughts, floods, hurricanes and tornadoes to geological catastrophes like earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis. Their consequences are both short-term and long-term and lead to either negative or positive consequences on the economy of a country. This effects of natural disasters essay will examine each outcome of such tragedies.

Generally, natural disasters affect the physical infrastructural facilities and lead to a lack of agricultural productivity. They tend to cause the loss of life and damage to property. Various factors influence the effects of natural disasters on a country. Among them are the magnitude of the disaster, the geography of the area affected and recovery efforts directed towards reducing the immediate consequences. Failure to mitigate the short-term economic issues impacts the long-term economic growth of a country.

It can be crucial to understand both causes and effects of natural disasters. This essay, however, will focus on the negative consequences that follow such tragedies.

The effects of natural disasters on natural resources can be both negative and positive. Natural disasters such as hurricanes and tornadoes dislodge trees causing a reduction in forest cover. Hurricanes and floods also wash away the fertile top soil reducing soil fertility that negatively affects agricultural productivity (Popp 2003, 63). Disasters also lead to the destruction of agricultural resources notably crops and livestock.

Natural disasters such as droughts and floods affect crop and livestock farming thus reducing agricultural production (Bradford & Carmichael, 2006: 56). This phenomenon results to “high food prices products, which in turn affect the economic stability of a region or country” (Maharatna, 1999: 54). Natural disasters also lead to the destruction of wildlife and natural phenomena thus affecting tourism; for instance, storms such as the Tenerife storm in 2005 destroyed ‘El Dedo de Dios’ an important tourist attraction thus affecting tourism

Natural disasters can also cause beneficial effects to a country’s economy. Rich fertile alluvial soils deposited on flood plains are ideal for faming of crops. Additionally, Abbott posits that “Disasters such as volcanic eruptions emit volcanic ash that forms fertile volcanic soils ideal for agriculture” (2004: 342). Volcanic eruptions also lead to the formation of craters that are important tourist attraction.

Natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods destroy infrastructural facilities such as roads and airports affecting transportation and economic growth. As Temple says, physical infrastructural facilities are important in stimulation of economic growth of any country (1999: 139).

However, natural disasters destroy these structures and thus negatively affect economic growth of a country. Critical infrastructure such as transportation and communication, health systems and energy supply are affected by natural infrastructure (Parfomak, 2005:14). However, efforts geared towards reconstruction and rebuilding of physical infrastructural facilities can help promote return to normalcy.

Natural disasters have negative effects on population growth of a country. Many lives are lost during natural catastrophes such as tsunamis and floods which reduces the population of a region or a country; a good example is the Japan tragedy which saw thousands of lives lost.

Additionally, Cain laments that the prospects of “a natural disaster occurring causes fear which leads to a decline in birth rate of f the population” (1983: 698). Destruction of natural resources affects the economy leading to low per capita income among the citizens, which in turn influences the fertility rate of a population (Lee, 1985: 635). Low fertility rate contributes to a decline in population growth.

Natural disasters negatively affect important sectors of a country’s economy. Natural disasters affect a country’s energy production stations including oil refineries and nuclear plants leads energy crisis, which results to high oil prices (Noy, 2009: 13).

According to the Congressional Research Service report, “Hurricane Katrina affected oil refineries and pipelines in the U.S. Gulf coast leading to higher oil prices nationally and internationally” (Cashell & Labonte, 2005: 16 ). This led to slower economic growth of the regions hit by the hurricane. Japan is still battling to prevent a nuclear disaster following the recent earthquake and tsunami that rocked the country recently.

Natural disasters also lead to reduced domestic and international trade, which negatively affect the economy. Moreover, natural disasters affect ports and transportation, which lead to reduction of the amount of imports and exports thus affecting trade. Additionally, natural disasters can bring beneficial effects to the economy of a region.

Skidmore and Toya highlight that, natural disasters precede “intensive construction and building activities to bring about recovery” (2002, 148). The locals and the businesses operating in a region affected by the natural disaster are employed in these recovery activities. However, the destruction of property and infrastructure by natural disasters often result to massive unemployment rates.

Skilled human labor is an important element in achieving economic development in any country. Natural disasters like floods and volcanoes cause death and loss of life thereby reducing the human capital of a region and as Skoufas notes, natural disasters also affect training of human capital through the disruption of schools and damage to training facilities (2003: 99).

Damage to property and unemployment lead to reduced family income, which affect education of especially the young people leading to majority of students to drop out of school. Natural disasters adversely affect technological developments of a country. However, natural disasters can stimulate technological innovations to withstand future disasters such as earthquakes. Technological innovations promote economic growth of a country.

Hurricane Katrina caused damage to many residential property and affected “physical infrastructure like roads and bridges in many states especially Louisiana and Mississippi” (Black & Veatch, 2006: 4). Wastewater disposal systems were affected especially in New Orleans due to damage caused on pipes.

It also affected water supply, electricity and essential healthcare delivery to the affected regions. Transportation of oil products and gas back and forth these regions were affected (Rahman, 2005: 114). The hurricane Katrina affected economy of the states hit by the disaster and the national economy. The U.S. national economic growth declined up to 1.0% because of the effects of the hurricane in these states. However, rebuilding activities will enhance economic growth.

The hurricane disaster affected the energy production centers including the oil refineries in Louisiana. The daily output of these refineries reduced because of the effects of the hurricane leading to a rise in oil and gas prices in the country.

The effects to the ports and oil pipes also contributed to energy crisis experienced during the same period. Due to the destruction of property and industrial facilities by the hurricane, high unemployment rates occurred in these states (Liu, Matt, & Mabanta, 2006: 123). Recovery efforts involve rebuilding the industrial and physical infrastructure and facilities such as schools.

The effects of natural disasters are both short-term including loss of life and damage to property and long-term affecting the economic stability of a region or a country. Damage to infrastructure and energy production centers lead to adverse effects on a country’s economic development. Recovery efforts involving construction and rebuilding of facilities help reverse the effects of disasters and provide employment to the affected people. Other natural disasters such as floods bring beneficial products as sectors such as agriculture improve.

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Natural Calamities and Their Forecasting

  • First Online: 01 January 2011

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natural calamities and their effect on human life essay

  • Valery A. Menshikov 4 ,
  • Anatoly N. Perminov 5 &
  • Yuri M. Urlichich 5  

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Man and the Environment (habitat) comprise an integrated system consisting of numerous inter-related elements, possessing specific traits, and streamlined within certain boundaries. The interaction between Man and the Environment depends on various factors that affect both of them and may be positive and negative at the same time. The negative influence of habitat on Man and his activities is exerted mostly by natural calamities and hazards [ 1].

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Menshikov, V.A., Perminov, A.N., Urlichich, Y.M. (2012). Natural Calamities and Their Forecasting. In: Global Aerospace Monitoring and Disaster Management. Springer, Vienna. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-0810-9_1

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Natural Disasters Essay

Madhuri Thakur

Natural Disasters Essay – Introduction

Natural disasters are powerful and dangerous events that are caused by nature. Disasters happen suddenly with little or no warning and cause severe damage to people, property, and the entire environment. It can be earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions. This essay will further elaborate in detail on natural disasters.

Today, natural disasters are becoming increasingly common. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the number of disasters in the United States has tripled since the 1960s. It can be because of climate change, population growth, and urbanization. And as the Earth’s climate becomes warmer, such natural disasters will become more common.

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There are three levels of natural disasters: small, medium, and large-scale. The events that do not cause too much harm in the world are small-scale, like lightning, storms, etc. Medium Scale disasters are riskier and more harmful than small-scale disasters, like blizzards or landslides. Meanwhile, professionals who  write papers for money often analyze the impact of large-scale disasters, which cause significant environmental damage, including tsunamis, wildfires, etc.  The disasters that cause too much environmental damage, such as tsunamis, wildfires, etc., are large-scale disasters.

This natural disasters essay will talk about the types of natural disasters as well their causes and impacts.

List of Natural Disasters

Some common natural disasters, along with their nature of impact and consequences, are provided in the table below:

Shakes the ground and can collapse buildings Injuries, loss of life
Big storms with strong winds and heavy rain Flooding, destruction of homes
Too much water causes damage to homes and roads Property damage, displacement
Spreads quickly and destroys everything in its path Destruction of vegetation, property
Giant waves that flood coastal areas Flooding, destruction of infrastructure
Releases lava, ash, and gasses damaging surrounding areas Property damage, respiratory problems

Types of Natural Disasters

There are different ways that natural disasters can happen. Some of the types are as follows,

Internal: It includes all the disasters that happen when there are some changes under the earth’s surface. These include earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, etc. We cannot easily predict these events.

External: It is when there is a disturbance above the earth’s surface. It is generally because of us humans who change the environment. These are usually landslides, floods, etc.

Temperature: When the temperature of the air or ocean changes, it can cause disasters like tornadoes and hurricanes. Even drought and glacier melt occurs because of the change in temperature of the environment.

Biological: These disasters occur because of viruses and bacteria that cause harmful diseases that can kill people. For instance, COVID-19, Ebola virus, etc., are some examples.

Causes of Natural Disasters

There are different causes for each natural disaster.

  • Too much rain can overfill the dams and flood a large area near the dam. It can cause damage to nearby buildings and homes.
  • When a storm forms over the ocean due to warm water, it is known as a Hurricane. There are also strong winds that can push the ocean water to the seashore and cause floods.
  • Tornadoes form when two different air temperatures clash, i.e., damp air from the ground collides with dry air from above. It creates a spiral of air that can be very powerful.
  • When two pieces of the Earth’s crust move against each other, it creates vibrations that we can feel on the ground. As these vibrations are too strong, they can cause buildings to fall and cause damage.
  • Volcanoes are mountains that release hot gasses, ash, and lava from below the earth’s surface to the above ground.

Natural Disasters Effects

Natural disasters can have long-term impacts, including economic and social disruption, displacement, and health problems. The severity of the disaster depends on factors such as the event’s intensity, location, and effectiveness of the disaster management system.

Material and financial loss, social unrest, and political instability are common impacts of natural disasters. Homelessness and a lack of access to basic necessities can occur after a natural disaster, leading to social disruption and decreased economic activity.

Emotional and psychological damage, as well as long-term health problems, can result from natural disasters. Air pollution can cause respiratory problems, and trauma and stress can lead to mental health issues.

Natural disasters can also impact the environment, causing soil erosion, water pollution, and a decrease in biodiversity. These impacts can have long-term consequences and require efforts for recovery and rebuilding.

Natural Disaster Management

It’s really important to be ready for natural disasters and keep ourselves safe. Countries that are ready to face natural disasters have to suffer less damage. So, governments should have disaster management policies for prevention, response, and recovery. Here are a few precautions we can take for some common natural disasters:

Earthquake Preparedness

  • Building strong structures so they don’t break during earthquakes.
  • Creating early warning systems that can alert people before an earthquake happens.
  • Educating people about the dangers of earthquakes and what to do when they happen.

Hurricane Preparedness

  • Developing evacuation plans and identifying safe locations to stay during a hurricane.
  • Establishing systems to provide early warnings and updates on approaching hurricanes.
  • Ensuring proper drainage systems to mitigate flooding caused by heavy rain during hurricanes.

Flood Preparedness

  • Implementing measures to manage water flow and prevent flooding.
  • Educating individuals on flood risks and providing guidance on evacuation procedures.
  • Creating emergency response plans to provide immediate assistance during and after a flood.

Wildfire Preparedness

  • Promoting fire safety practices and educating individuals on the prevention of wildfires.
  • Clearing dry leaves and vegetation around homes to reduce fire risks.
  • Cooperating with firefighting agencies and having evacuation plans in place during wildfire emergencies.

Tsunami Preparedness

  • Raising awareness about tsunamis and educating coastal communities on evacuation routes.
  • Establishing warning systems near coastal areas to provide early alerts for tsunamis.
  • Conducting drills and exercises to ensure that individuals know how to respond to a tsunami.

Volcano Preparedness

  • Monitoring volcanic activities and studying eruption patterns to predict volcanic eruptions.
  • Establishing communication systems to disseminate timely warnings about volcanic eruptions.
  • Collaborating with scientists and experts to develop evacuation plans and safe zones during volcanic emergencies.

Overall Disaster Management

Individuals should develop personal emergency plans and be aware of the risks of different types of disasters. Governments and individuals can be better prepared to respond to natural disasters by having emergency plans. Thus, taking these precautions can lower the risk of disasters and protect ourselves and our communities.

Conclusion – Natural Disasters Essay

Natural disasters can cause immense destruction, pain, and loss of life. So, to lessen the impacts of these disasters, taking disaster management measures is necessary.

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Natural Calamity, Its Impact and Level of Preparations: Significance and Implications to the Community

Asio, J.M.R. (2020). Natural calamity, its impact and level of preparations: Significance and implication to the community. Disaster Advances, 13(11), 22-30.

9 Pages Posted: 23 Dec 2020

John Mark R. Asio

Gordon College; La Consolacion University Philippines

Date Written: October 25, 2020

The purpose of the study is to analyze the knowledge of natural calamity, its impact and level of preparations of respondents in Central Luzon, Philippines. This study employed a descriptive-correlation design. 125 respondents participated in the survey with the use of convenience sampling technique. We drafted a questionnaire and subjected it to validity and reliability test which yielded an overall Cronbach alpha score of .969. After the survey, We analyzed the data using SPSS 20 and the following statistical tools: frequency, percentage, means, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson-r and Regression Analysis. The study found that the respondents are knowledgeable on natural calamities and its impacts. They are also prepared when a calamity occurs. There are significant differences on the knowledge of natural calamity and impact of natural calamity in terms of community and family members. There is also a significant relationship observed between community, knowledge of natural calamity and impact of natural calamity. The same is observed between knowledge of natural calamity, impact of natural calamity and level of preparations of respondents. The community is a significant determinant of knowledge on natural calamity and impact of natural calamity and age is a significant determinant of knowledge on natural calamity.

Keywords: natural calamity, impact of natural calamity, level of preparation, significance, implication to community

JEL Classification: Q54

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

John Mark R. Asio (Contact Author)

Gordon college ( email ).

Donor Street, East Tapinac Olongapo City, Zambales 2200 Philippines

La Consolacion University Philippines ( email )

Catmon Rd, Capitol View Park Subdivision Malolos, Bulacan, Bulacan 3000 Philippines

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School Essay

Essay On Natural Calamities Or Floods and Famines

  • Post category: Essay
  • Reading time: 8 mins read

Set 1: Essay On Natural Calamities Or Floods and Famines

Natural calamities such as floods, famines and earthquakes are a common feature of human life. They can cause massive destruction and great havoc anywhere and any time on this earth. Especially floods and famines affect our lives greatly.

In India, either we get too much of rain or we get no rain at all. When there are no rains, crops do not grow and when it rains torrentially, our crops are destroyed in the floods. In either case we suffer. As it is not possible to control the monsoons by any scientific methods, we have to depend on the rain god for our food production every year. Too much or too little rain causes famines. Every year there are floods in some parts of the country and famine in others.

Sometimes there is drought all over the country for want of rains and this leads to famine. Sometimes our crops are destroyed by heavy floods. There was a great drought in the country for many years in the seventies. It was followed by great floods in 1978 when crops were destroyed and several people lost their lives.

Whenever there are floods, the rivers cannot contain the enormous volume of water and the water flows into the adjoining areas causing heavy destruction of life and property. The old persons and children suffer untold miseries. Authorities have to press all emergencies into service to provide food by boats or by helicopters. When there are no rains, the earth becomes parched and there is famine. Many people have to starve because of drought.

When there is a famine, the government distributes grains, food and remits taxes on land and provides other help to the farmers. When there is flood, the government provides boats and helicopters to rescue people. It also provides alternate site for their residence. There is the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund and the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund to render help in any national calamity. Both floods and famines are, in fact, great national calamities.

Set 2: Essay On Natural Calamities

Natural calamities, such as floods, drought, forest fires, earth-quakes, volcanic eruptions, epidemics etc., sometimes take a heavy toll of plant and animal life. Floods are frequent in moist tropical regions of the world which inundate much of the ground vegetation, trap a large number of animals while leaching away soil nutrients to make the already poor tropical soil poorer.

Failure of monsoon, for example, in succession for two or three years dries up ground vegetation and as the subsurface water table recedes trees are also affected. With plant life animals also suffer. In such localities heavy seasonal downpour also causes extensive damages.

Forest fires in densely wooded localities often reduce to ashes a large number of plant and animal species and so do earth-quakes which, however, are not as frequent as floods or droughts. Volcanic eruptions may at times completely destroy plant and animal life in its surrounding areas. Such an eruption occurred in Columbia in November 1985.

The hot sulphur containing material coming out from the volcano melted ice on the mountain sides and formed thick black mud which swept down the slopes to cause enormous damage to plant, animal and human lives. The black mud now covers an area of 2800 sq-kms and has made the soil useless. No vegetation survives here. Fortunately such eruptions are not very frequent. It was 23rd eruption of the volcano since last four thousand years.

Epidemics sometimes destroy large portions of a natural population. Sporadic diseases are quit frequent in a natural community. However, at times virulent strains appear, cause diseases which put on the dimensions of an epidemic. A large number of organisms are killed. In nature such episodes are usually confined to specific plant or animal populations as the pathogen is often specific to particular species or group of species.

Set 3: Essay On famine

Famine is said to have struck when there arises a great scarcity of food. Famine arises when crops fail for some reason or the other. Sometimes crops may be destroyed by floods. Then there will be famine. At other times, there may be scarcity of rain. This will lead to a poor crop. So, there will not be enough grain to eat. In many parts of our country there is famine almost year round because of the drought conditions. The monsoon failure is a common cause. So the crops fail too.

It is heart-rending to see the miserable condition of the poor in the places where there is famine. Many die of extreme hunger. All become thin and weak. They have no strength to walk. The children cry pitifully because they are famished. Parents are helpless. There is not a morsel of food to give to their children.

People boil a few leaves and herbs in a pot with hot water and drink the mixture. It helps them to get rid of the empty feeling in their stomachs. Cattle too die in large numbers because they have neither fodder nor water.

There is not only a food shortage but also a water scarcity at most times. This is on account of the failure of the rains. The lakes have little water left and the wells in the villages become dry. One can do without food for some time, but who can live without water? The condition of men and animals becomes equally miserable.

To escape dying of hunger and thirst people from drought-hit areas make their way to the towns. There many of them beg, and manage to keep alive. Government has organized relief measures for all the drought-hit people. Government opens relief camps where victims of drought are given food and provided with employment. Volunteers organisations also arrange camps to supply readymade eatables.

Famine is a natural calamity that occurs from time to time. We should do our best to help those who have been affected by famine.

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What are the effects of natural disasters on human, life, and property? What could be done to cope up with these in a better way?

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To summarize, a robotic teacher does not have the necessary disciple to properly give instructions to students and actually works to retard the ability of a student to comprehend new lessons. Therefore, it is clear that the idea of running a classroom completely by a machine cannot be supported. After thorough analysis on this subject, it is predicted that the adverse effects of the debate over technology-driven teaching will always be greater than the positive effects, and because of this, classroom teachers will never be substituted for technology.

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English Essay on “Natural Calamities” Complete Essay, Paragraph, Speech for Class 10, 12 Students.

Natural Calamities

Natural calamities are the calamities that are inflicted by God, or Nature, on man and his world. At these calamities, the unseen hand 1 wreaks havoc in the part of the world it chooses to act upon. On these natural activities of nature, no scientific or technological developments can wield any control. They can occur as and when and where nature ordains it.

Natural calamities can be of many different kinds, but the similarity in all is their massive destruction in the area of their occurrence. Natural disasters are of many kinds, they are drought and famine, flood, earthquake, hailstorm, and cyclone. In the wake of all these, in one sweep there is complete devastation and destruction, due to which normal life comes to a standstill. Loss of life is well nigh complete, and the belongings of people get lost, blown away, or swept away. The scene is one of awe, of some unknown power that appears to wreak some revenge on the people of the area. One feels that there will never again be living in the area, there will never again come up any constructions in the area. But, nature plays its part in this also, and even after the most ghastly disasters, life has come up blooming as ever as before in areas of such devastation.

A very touching scene is of a drought-affected area. In any country that depends on the annual rainfall for its source of water, if there is no rain, for the water supply, the obvious famine comes in its wake. This condition of getting no rain is called drought, and with it, as its automatic corollary comes famine. With the scarcity of water, there is no vegetation and food scarcity follows. The crops get burnt up within the heat, the earth gets parched for water, and all life seems to be cracking

Just the opposite condition occurs when there is a flood. A flood is another form of a natural calamity. On the one hand, we find men dying due to wanting of water while on the other, in a flood we see them marooned by huge expanses of water. High-rise buildings start as if floating in the water, men livestock, and materials get an opportunity of floating, swimming, and even drowning. If this flood is accompanied by a storm then there is no panacea for the sufferers. With the impact of the strong breeze, trees get uprooted and there appears no hope for the survival of life.

Regarding an earthquake, Oh God, the earth cracks and creeps with the huge solid face of the earth moving light as a cradle, moving in a loving soft breeze. However, this cradle of love is no less than a destruction of the highest magnitude and causes massive destruction as of the other calamities. The earth appears to be crying under the weight of civilization and breaking and cracking in places with an unwarranted speed. The result of this swing-like action of the earth is the occurrence of cracks big and small in different places and, the falling of huge high-rise buildings, felling of trees, and complete annihilation of life and materials.

A hailstorm and a cyclone also result in absolute disaster and breakdown of life. The latest of such tragedies has been a cyclone in the Gujarat state of India. Trees have been blown off their very roots, and houses and huge buildings have been as if dug out of their very foundations, and all life has been destroyed or dislocated

As far as India is concerned, I feel that nature has been very kind on the one hand and very cruel yes very cruel on the other. I say this because not one year goes by when there has been no natural disaster. However, when such calamities do occur in India, the entire Indian machinery, Governmental or non-governmental does gear up to provide succor to the disturbed area. The Government sanctions crores of rupees for the rehabilitation of the people in the area, food and medicines are airdropped and the entire country feels and acts together. However, it is a matter of thought that, even after 50 years of self-rule, the Government has not been able to take any concrete steps to avert such natural disasters. For example in Assam every year there is a flood in the River Brahmaputra and then the machinery is geared up to take the people out of the trouble, but, no success has been achieved in averting the disaster.

It is to be thought of why we have not been able to avert the calamities which are annual. For if we know of a calamity that is to come, we should be able to save ourselves from it. At this juncture, let us analyze why and how these calamities have remained unchecked even when we are so deep into civilization and development. The obvious reasons to my mind are two one that, we are not able to, and second, we are not sufficiently interested in removing the hazard. I feel the Indian scenario is a combination of the two causes. We are not able to check them and also we are not as serious as we should be in trying to prevent these tragedies. For example in Assam, as just mentioned, every year without fail, there are floods. Though there has been instituted a Brahmaputra Board that has done some work to clean the river and increase the stretch of the river bed, the floods come non-stop. This shows very clearly that, efforts are not enough and of course, this also proves another point that man has no power over the will of nature. Though today man thinks that he can do everything and nature is now irrelevant, yet, all his efforts to counter the pangs of nature fall flat and fail. The repeated disasters that befall on earth are a continuous reminder to man that there is always a hand that can undo all that man does. For if this was not true, man would be ruling like a monarch on earth without a fear but, as we all know, this is not so. Nature plays its game off and on and gives pinpricks to this self-styled monarch to remind him of his drawbacks and disabilities and keep him in a balanced state of mind.

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Resilience in the Philippines in the Face of Natural Calamities

Justin goldman.

natural calamities and their effect on human life essay

May 21, 2014

natural calamities and their effect on human life essay

Despite the staggering impact from Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) that ravaged across the central Philippines in November 2013 and the 7.2 magnitude Bohol Earthquake just weeks before that, the country managed to sustain its economic momentum as its Growth Domestic Product (GDP) finished the year up by a rate of 7.2 percent. Fully expecting the impact of the severe disasters to be felt more intensely in the year ahead, the Moody’s March 2014 upward revision from a rate of 5.4 to 5.8 percent of annual GDP for the year is a welcome indicator. The solid economic growth trajectory combined with critical domestic reform efforts and energetic diplomacy continues to strengthen the outlook for the Philippines.

Growth and Recovery

As the Government of the Philippines and numerous relief organizations work together to move beyond the immediate response to the disaster-stricken areas and embark on the longer-term recovery process, the challenge will be how well they can realize the vision of “building back better” in order to have communities in a stronger position to withstand the unforgiving nature of these disasters. This approach to humanitarian assistance has grown as best practices have been captured during other disaster relief operations, from carrying out reconstruction that properly accounts for future hazards and addressing the urgent need to restore livelihoods. Being situated in the “Pacific Ring of Fire” and expecting future natural calamities, the approach of managing disaster risk reduction has been embraced from national authorities down to many local government units.

A leading voice on this matter has been Senator Loren Legarda, a long-time advocate for adapting to the impact of climate change who addressed the matter at the East Asia Summit Leadership Panel on Climate Change and Rural Livelihoods. Speaking on the diverse funding sources allotted to related programs including the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Fund, she emphatically stated, “I am pushing for an environmental audit that will measure the level of compliance with the country’s environmental laws. Where policy is lacking or absent, I will introduce them.”

Such an approach is essential as a “building back better” method demands that those providing aid be ultimately accountable to the people they seek to assist. The Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources is moving forward on its objective to build and provide 10,000 wooden fishing boats to those who survived Typhoon Haiyan; by late February nearly 4,000 of those boats had been built, with work ongoing to reach the 10,000 boats mark. Working cooperatively in this area is the World Wide Fund for Nature, leveraging their Earth Hour Campaign to raise funds to build 600 new fiberglass boats to supply fisherman in Palawan and Leyte seeking to recover their livelihood in Typhoon Haiyan impacted areas.

As the Philippines has averaged growth of around 5 percent since 2002, a significant increase from the preceding two decades, private sector firms are more and more an important partner in moving the country forward. In December 2013 the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) signed a Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) with Procter & Gamble (P&G) and Coca-Cola creating a public-private partnership that will help over 2,000 sari-sari stores (small neighborhood shops), rehabilitating those that are salvageable and building new ones where needed. This effort will also facilitate access to needed funds through micro-finance to sustain these enterprises. The finance industry has been a sector of important growth within the country. In December 2010 Citigroup announced the establishment of a research platform in Manila in order to support growth in its capital markets activities and in 2013 Citi was awarded Best Foreign Bank in the Philippines for the fifth consecutive year at the Alpha Southeast Asia Best Financial Institution Awards that began in 2009. Just weeks after Haiyan struck, the Citi Foundation stepped up delivering over $1 million for the recovery effort to address immediate needs.

Diplomacy and Statecraft

The beginning of the year brought a feeling of hope as negotiators for the Government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) agreed to terms for the Bangsamoro Framework Agreement with the final annex signed on January 25, 2014. Certainly considerable efforts remain if the vision is to be realized, with challenges such as providing security in the autonomous Muslim-majority areas, but this agreement reflects the will of both sides to bring about an end to a conflict that has plagued the Southern Philippines for decades. Malaysia played a constructive role facilitating the peace talks between the two sides, which remained focused during the late stages of a 17-year negotiation despite the Lahad Datu incident where armed militants traveled from Mindanao to Sabah to stake a claim to territory in East Malaysia during March of 2013. The MILF distanced itself from those militants as political leaders in Kuala Lumpur and Manila weathered this crisis at a time where they both were approaching crucial elections, keeping negotiations on track.

Optimism continues to grow following the March 27, 2014 signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, sensing increased prospects for prosperity with this critical step towards a more peaceful Southern Philippines. However, it’s important to keep in mind that areas across Mindanao have been registering positive economic results such as the rapidly expanding information communication technology sector with Davao City recognized by global real estate firm Cushman&Wakefield as the most viable city for business process outsourcing (BPO) growth. Agricultural production in Northern Mindanao has increased, highlighting the resource potential this part of the country possesses. Realizing the elusive peace in Mindanao could bring about needed investment in sectors such as agriculture and energy that would support more widespread prosperity. Maybank Philippines has indicated that it is studying the prospects for Islamic banking in response to progress on the peace process with the MILF, but this would require addressing a law seen as dated that only allows Al-Amanah, a subsidiary fully owned by the Development Bank of the Philippines to provide Islamic banking services in the country. Maybank has judged the growth potential in the country quite positively, reflected in its January 2013 $100 million capital infusion to support plans to quadruple its network of branches by 2018 along with the opening of a new headquarters in Bonifacio Global City.

While sustained negotiations have yielded a breakthrough in peace talks with the MILF, the Administration of President Benigno Aquino III remains in a tense standoff over territorial issues in the South China Sea (West Philippines Sea) with China. Despite being dramatically overmatched with respect to maritime assets it can employ, the Philippines has found various diplomatic channels to affirm what it deems as sovereign rights over territory in disputed areas such as the islands, reefs and atolls in the Kalayaan Island Group that includes the Second Thomas Shoal located just 105 nautical miles from the Philippines Palawan Island. In January 2013 the Aquino Administration informed the Chinese Embassy in Manila that it had instituted arbitral proceedings against China under Annex VII of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The Philippines legal challenge is unfolding as an arbitration case before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS). United States (U.S.) Navy Captain Stuart Bell, Deputy Assistant Judge Advocate General for International and Operations Law addressed this ongoing effort at a February 2014 U.S. Naval Institute Conference in San Diego. He explained that “one of the bright spots in international law jurisprudence is the ongoing arbitration between the Philippines and China” where the Philippines “seek to challenge China’s nine-dashed line as well as China’s claim to maritime entitlements from mere rocks or low-tide elevations.” On March 30, 2014 the Philippines submitted its nearly 4,000 page Memorial, complying with the Rules of Procedure of the Tribunal. While China has refused to participate in the proceedings, at this point a ruling is expected in mid-2015.

As the ITLOS process unfolds the Philippines will continue to pursue a rules-based approach to these maritime disputes. Utilizing mechanisms in place, such an approach can also be carried out in institutional bodies including the Association of Southeast Asian States (ASEAN). After more effective management within ASEAN under Brunei’s Chairmanship in 2013 following the fallout from the failure of the July 2012 Foreign Ministers Meeting in Cambodia to release a Joint Communiqué for the first time in ASEAN’s 45-year history over a lack of consensus on language over the South China Sea, the Philippines will seek to keep the issue on the agenda. Important transitions taking place in 2014, including key personnel assuming new posts within the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the ASEAN Chair being assumed by Myanmar will be areas to watch. Ambassador Luis T. Cruz returns to Manila from serving as the Philippine Ambassador to the Republic of Korea where he will head up the Office of ASEAN Affairs that serves as the ASEAN National Secretariat. He should have no problem coordinating ASEAN issues within broader regional policy as his wife, Ambassador Minda Calaguian Cruz, wraps up ten years of serving in the Philippine Embassy in Singapore and returns to Manila to lead the Office of Asia-Pacific Affairs. She departs her post with rave reviews where the Filipino community fondly knows her as “Amba” as she ably addressed the needs of over 150,000 citizens based in Singapore while strengthening the bilateral relationship. Assistant Secretary Charles Jose has also returned to Manila after completing a three-year post leading the Philippine Consulate General in Shanghai to now head the Public Information and Services Unit. As the spokesperson for DFA, he will rely on that experience and past postings in Chongqing and Beijing as the Philippines continues to affirm its sovereign rights while managing these complex maritime issues within a broader bilateral relationship with China.

Education Progress

While perhaps garnering less attention than major diplomatic and economic matters, critical shifts in education policy will better prepare students in the Philippines to compete with their peers worldwide. In May 2013, President Aquino signed the Enhanced Basic Education Act (K-12) into law, establishing a universal Kindergarten and introducing Grades 11 and 12 to the High School level. The previous 10-year pre-university education cycle was deemed inadequate, as prior to this the Philippines had been the lone country in Asia that operated on a 10-year cycle. Expanding to the K-12 approach was not without its detractors, as the additional years in school will place an added burden on Filipino families. As the law was being formulated, one criticism that was made covered the overcrowding of schools. The Aquino Administration has focused intensely on this issue, including the development of the Department of Education’s Public Private Partnership for School Infrastructure Project (PSIP). In a February 2014 speech, President Aquino announced that the objective of 66,800 new classrooms that was the identified shortfall when he entered office in 2010 had been achieved. Over 35,000 classrooms were funded through appropriations in the national budget, 13,189 were built utilizing the funds of local government units, 14,886 were realized through support from local donors, 1,215 from foreign donations, and 2,242 under the PSIP I. Political and education leaders continue to work to actively recruit teachers to meet the needs of Filipino students. The “Fast-Tracked S&T Scholarship Act of 2013” incentivizes 3rd year college students taking math, engineering and science courses that meet rigorous academic standards to enter the program that will lead to them serving for a minimum of two years as science teachers in their hometowns, addressing a critical need to create an advanced workforce.

The overhaul of K-12 education is designed to have students in a stronger position to either enter the workforce with a technical-vocational track during the final two years of high school or further academic focus to prepare for tertiary education. Leading higher education institutions of the Philippines have announced their plans to transition from the June-March academic calendar to ones that begin in July-August that run until May. The majority of the University of the Philippines campuses and Ateneo De Manila University made the announcement in early February 2014, followed by the University of Santo Tomas the following week. While the phased-in transition over the next few years will be challenging and potentially disruptive, in the long-term it will have students better prepared to compete with their international peers. Having an academic calendar more common with partner institutions overseas will provide Filipino students better opportunities to take part in exchange programs. As regional countries work to realize the objectives of ASEAN Integration in 2015, more compatible academic calendars make this an even more viable avenue of cooperation. As the Philippines approaches its “demographic sweet-spot” in the coming years with its youthful workforce and a growing economy, key education reforms will place the country in a strong position to continue its forward progress.

Justin Goldman is an Associate Research Fellow in Military Studies at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies and a Non-Resident Fellow at Pacific Forum CSIS. He has previously been a Visiting Scholar in International Studies at De La Salle University in Manila.

This article was originally published in the Diplomatic Courier's May/June 2014 print edition. Subscribe here.

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natural calamities and their effect on human life essay

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