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Environmental disaster

Article Discussion

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CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Alaskan fishing industry also suffered tremendously as a result of the spill.

An environmental disaster or ecological disaster is defined as a catastrophic event regarding the natural environment that is due to human activity.<ref name="Collapse">Jared M. Diamond, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, 2005</ref> This point distinguishes environmental disasters from other disturbances such as natural disasters and intentional acts of war such as nuclear bombings.

Environmental disasters show how the impact of humans' alteration of the land has led to widespread and/or long-lasting consequences.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> These disasters have included deaths of wildlife, humans and plants, or severe disruption of human life or health, possibly requiring migration.<ref>End-of-the-World Scenario:ecological Disaster</ref> Some environmental disasters are the trigger source of more expansive environmental conflicts, where effected groups try to socially confront the actors responsible for the disaster.

Environmental disastersEdit

Environmental disasters have historically affected agriculture, wildlife biodiversity, the economy, and human health. The most common causes include pollution that seeps into groundwater or a body of water, emissions into the atmosphere, and depletion of natural resources, industrial activity, and agricultural practices.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The following is a list of major environmental disasters:

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> The eventual death toll could reach 4,000. Some 50 emergency workers died of acute radiation syndrome, nine children died of thyroid cancer and an estimated total of 3940 died from radiation-induced cancer and leukemia.

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Climate change and disaster risksEdit

Template:Further A 2013 report examined the relationship between disasters and poverty world-wide. It concludes that, without concerted action, there could be upwards of 325 million people living in the 49 countries most exposed to the full range of natural hazards and climate extremes in 2040.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Social vulnerability and environmental disasterEdit

According to author Daniel Murphy, different groups can adapt to environmental disasters differently due to social factors such as age, race, class, gender, and nationality.<ref name=":1">Murphy, Daniel; Wyborn (January 2015). "Key concepts and methods in social vulnerability and adaptive capacity". Research Gate. Retrieved 2021-02-08.</ref> Murphy argues that while developed countries with access to resources that can help mitigate environmental disasters often contribute the most to factors that can increase the risk of said disasters, developing countries experience the impacts of environmental disasters more intensely than their wealthier counterparts.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It is often the case that the populations that do not contribute to climate change are not only in geographic locations that experience more environmental disasters, but also have fewer resources to mitigate the impact of the disasters.<ref name=":1" /> For example, when Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana in 2005, many scientists argued that climate change had increased the severity of the hurricane.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Although the majority of the U.S. emissions that can contribute to climate change come from industry and transport, the people who were hit hardest by Katrina were not the heads of large companies within the country.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Rather, the poor Black communities within Louisiana were the most devastated by the hurricane.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Mitigation effortsEdit

There have been many attempts throughout recent years to mitigate the impact of environmental disasters.<ref>Murti, R. (2018, June 01). Environment and disasters. Retrieved February 24, 2021, from https://www.iucn.org/theme/ecosystem-management/our-work/environment-and-disasters</ref> Environmental disaster is caused by human activity, so many believe that such disasters can be prevented or have their consequences reduced by human activity as well. Efforts to attempt mitigation are evident in cities such as Miami, Florida, in which houses along the coast are built a few feet off of the ground in order to decrease the damage caused by rising tides due to rising sea-levels.<ref name=":0">Ariza, M. A. (2020, September 29). As Miami keeps Building, rising SEAS DEEPEN its social divide. Retrieved February 24, 2021, from https://e360.yale.edu/features/as-miami-keeps-building-rising-seas-deepen-its-social-divide</ref> Although mitigation efforts such as those found in Miami might be effective in the short-term, many environmental groups are concerned with whether or not mitigation provides long-term solutions to the consequences of environmental disaster.<ref name=":0" />

See alsoEdit

File:Nauru satellite.jpg
An aerial image of Nauru in 2002 from the U.S. Department of Energy's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program. Regenerated vegetation covers 63% of land that was mined<ref name = UNCCC>Republic of Nauru. 1999. Climate Change – Response. First National Communication – 1999. Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, United Nations </ref>

ReferencesEdit

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Further readingEdit

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