Natural Disasters: Acts of God Or Acts of Man?This eight-chapter publication considers the man-made and natural causes of natural disasters. Following an introduction, Chapter 1 outlines the increase in natural disasters in the past decade and discusses the ratio of disasters from one continent to another. Chapter 2 discusses man-made factors such as deforestation and overused soil in causing drought. The focus is on the effects of drought in the Third World. Chapter 3 outlines the causes of floods and considers the plight of poor people who are generally relegated to the most flood-prone land. Tropical cyclones and winds are treated in Chapter 4, as are the repercussions of these events in areas without adequate communication systems. Effects of earthquakes, tidal waves, and volcanoes are the subjects of Chapters 5 and 6. The pros and cons of relief efforts, originating predominantly in Northern hemisphere countries and directed toward Southern countries is discussed in Chapter 7. The final chapter outlines directions that disaster prevention planning might take. An appendix and list of further readings is provided. (LP) |
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according affected Africa agricultural Anders Wijkman areas Bangladesh Better than Cure building Caribbean caused China cities coast countries crops Cross and Red damage dangerous decades deforestation desertification disaster experts disaster prevention disaster relief donor drought earthquake Earthscan environment environmental erosion eruption famine farmers floodplains food aid forests Guatemala hazards hectares houses human hurricanes increase India International islands killed land Latin America League of Red live major Mark Edwards/Earthscan measures metres million mitigation nations natural disasters northern OXFAM Peru Philippines plant poor population Prevention Better problems programmes prone to flooding quake rain rainfall Red Crescent Societies Red Cross Society region relief agencies relief efforts relief operations Richter Richter scale river rural Sahel Sahelian shantytowns slopes soil storm surges suffering Swedish Red Cross Third World topsoil tornado trees trigger Tropical cyclone tsunami victims village volcanoes vulnerable warning waves winds World Food Programme zones