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Effects of natural and manmade disaster and mitigation measures

~~TORNADOES
Tornadoes effect the environment by destroying buildings and trees. Tornadoes also kill animals, which effects the food chain and disrupts the whole environment. Tornadoes destroy our farms, which means there will be food shortages around the surrounding area. After everything is destroyed, humans have to rebuild. Tornadoes can cause water contamination, which poses a serious problem, as plants, animals and humans are effected by this. Debris can be very dangerous, as it could kill plants and animals very easily. Some trees take over 100 years to grow, so if they are destroyed, they will be hard to replace. Fires may occur after a tornado due to damaged power lines and gas leaks. Fire contributes to global warming by giving off carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Because of man-made global warming, scientists believe that there will be an increases in tornadoes and other severe weather.

FLOODS
Floods not only damage property and endanger if lives of humans and animals, but have other effects as well, such as:
1. Floods cause the spread of many epidemic diseases.
2. Rapid runoff causes soil erosion.
3. Wildlife habitat and forests are often destroyed.
4. Manmade structures like buildings, bridges, roads, sewer lines, power lines, etc. are damaged.
5. Floods cause widespread damage to the standing crops and degrade the agricultural land.
6. Flood affected areas are faced with acute shortage of food and drinking water.

DROUGHTS
Impact on the Environment:
The severity of the drought is gauged by the degree of moisture deficiency, its duration, and the size of the area affected. If the drought is brief, it is known as a dry spell or partial drought.
Drought causes serious environmental imbalances, which are summarized below:
1. Water-supply reservoirs become empty, wells dry up and there is acute water shortage.
2. Groundwater level is also depleted because of less recharge.
3. Soil degradation and erosion occurs. Soil cracks because of shrinkage during desiccation (Fig. 18.4).
4. There is extensive crop damage.
5. People become impoverished and there are diseases due to malnutrition.
6. Widespread damage to flora and fauna air including domestic animals.

CYCLONES
The impact on the environment is severe, some of which are as under

1. The coastal low lying areas are most affected.
2. The affected areas are inundated both with rainfall and the surge of seawater.
3. Devastation is also increased due to the accompanying high velocity winds.
4. Widespread damage in the form of uprooted trees, blown-off roof tops, standing crops, injuries and death to humans and animals.
5. Many shipwrecks occur during cyclonic storms.
6. The affected areas are impoverished and are followed by spread of epidemic and diseases.

LANDSLIDES
Impact on the Environment:
Landslides, though local in nature, occur quite often in many parts of the world. Landslides occur in the hilly regions; the Himalayan region in India is particularly prone to landslides. Every year landslides occur, especially during the monsoon season and cause much damage to life and property. For example, Malpa landslide in 1999 in the Kumaon hills, took the lives of many pilgrims who were going to Mansarovar in Tibet.

The impact on the environment is manifested in the form of:
1. Uprooted trees and degraded soil
2. Buried building and settlements
3. Damage to crops and plantation
4. Frequent roadblocks in the hilly areas
5. Injuries and death to humans and animals

 


Man-made disasters are mainly of two types:
Local disasters:
These are small-scale disasters such as train accidents, plane crashes and shipwrecks.

Industrial and technological disasters:
These are much larger in scale and are the result of technology failures or industrial accidents. Such disasters affect both local population and may even cover a much larger area. Industrial disasters result due to accidental leakage of water or air pollutants. Many of the chemicals are extremely toxic and carcinogenic which affect the human population in an adverse way. Some people die instantly while others are crippled for whole life in the form of blindness, paralysis and many other chronic diseases.

Impact on the environment:
Leakage of toxic chemicals from the industries and accidents in the nuclear reactors has short-term and long-term effects on the environment and human health. Short-term effects on human health relate to casualties and diseases like blindness, cancer, paralysis, heart trouble, gastric and respiratory abnormalities. Long-term effects include genetic imbalances in humans and its impact on the future generations. Soil and water sources also remain polluted for long durations of time.

Prevention, control and mitigation:

Man-made disasters can be minimized to a large extent by adopting the following measures:
1. Proper training of personnel working in the hazardous industries.
2. Proper maintenance and care of safety measures.
3. Removing human encroachments around hazardous industries.
4. Making the people aware about the first-aid methods in case of accidents.
5. Applying wet cloth over the mouth and nose in case of gas leakages minimizes the health hazards.
6. Remaining indoors in case of radioactive accidents.
7. Providing the people with proper medical care, in some cases throughout their life.
8. Providing adequate compensation to the affected people by way of money and employment.

 

 

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The main factors in man made disasters are greed, apathy, and ignorance; usually a combination of all three. Rarely are man made disasters created deliberately. 

Said to be the most deadly man made (single incident) disaster was the escape of methyl isocyanate gas released at a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal India in 1984, killing almost 3,800 people and injuring (some permanently) an estimated 38,000 people. The conditions that lead to the disaster were poor plant maintenance and procedures, failure of safety systems due to poor maintenance, safety systems shut off to save money, and the company not disclosing to emergency responding agencies the nature of the poison or the extent of the danger. The greed of the company's management decided not to spend the money necessary to keep the plant up to even minimum standards, they never bothered scrutinized the possible outcomes for cutting costs; their ignorance was deliberate. 

In the case of a disaster occurring when attempting something untried, such as the sinking of the Titanic, the company did not cut corners in construction but greed arose by selling the safety of the ship and selling as many fares as possible for the maiden voyage. Their overconfidence led to having too much pride in their accomplishment and the luxury of the accommodations and not enough to ensuring that the maximum safety measures and training. Something so trivial as the key to the locker with the night watchers (predecessor to radar) binoculars was left on shore to providing less than half the number of lifeboats for the number of people on board. 

Man made disasters are exactly what the term says, disasters that are the result of human faults and the humans forgetting that they have them. Mitigating factors are professional diligence, commitment to safety and the public welfare, and conscience. When humans exercise these traits, man made disasters rarely happen.

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