Are Natural Disasters Man-Made?

Relevance: GS3 - Disaster and disaster management Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment. GS1 - Urbanization, their problems and remedies

(Source: The Hindu, 09/01/2023)

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Why in the news?

• This article discusses the causes behind the various natural disasters taking place around the world.
• Increased urbanization and population density have led to a greater dependence on fossil fuels and the incidence of greater climate-disruptive anthropogenic forces.

To what extent are natural disasters manmade?

• The scale of natural disasters occurring at present is mostly man-made with some sections of the population more vulnerable and at risk than others.
• Humans have contributed substantially to enhancing the threat posed by climate hazards.
• As a result, there has been an increase in the frequency and intensity of hazards, worsened by climate change.
• Anthropogenic activities such as construction on floodplains, encroachment of water bodies, and unsustainable planning of cities have worsened the situation.
• Targeted systems and solutions that can be directed specifically towards this vulnerable section need to be developed through collective and bottom-up approaches.

Has disaster preparedness in India evolved over the years?

• There has been a change in the approach to disasters in India with greater importance being attached to urban planning and understanding the impact of urban migration on natural landscapes.
• The drastic change in the natural environment has caused some resources to exceed their carrying capacity.
• This has further exacerbated the extent of loss and damage in these areas.
• The agencies responsible for regulating the urbanization of cities, towns, and villages have been unable to mitigate the worst effects of the process.
• The planning system has failed to ensure that critical ecosystems are kept alive and natural systems are maintained at the core of India’s way of life.
• This has raised concerns about the planning decisions given the expected levels of sea rise and coastal inundation projected for the upcoming decades.

Is there a balance between urbanization and climate concerns?

Sustainability

• The idea of development that is popular is one of infrastructure growth.
• However, this model of development does not consider whether the development pathways in practice are sustainable or not.
  • A sustainable model would focus on not just economics but society and the environment as well.
• In the economy-based model of development, the focus has been on identifying cheaper land, filling the water bodies, removing paleochannels i.e. deep underground stores of groundwater, and destroying natural drainage systems.
• This has accentuated many of the problems faced today in terms of the economy.
• It is therefore essential to adopt the Sustainable Development Goals and implement them in urban planning, and development of public infrastructure.

Development

• As a developing and growing country, it is necessary for people to have access to houses, jobs, and services.
• However, the traditional model of business as usual has persisted in urban planning without considering the ecological and social impact of projects.
• Cities must begin to develop long-term solutions as there are no viable quick fixes to the problem of climate change and the disasters associated with it.
• Long-term risk assessments and vulnerability assessments must be conducted to better understand how socioeconomic drivers are contributing to the crisis in certain communities in comparison to others in the city.

Is lack of knowledge or poor implementation the problem faced in disaster mitigation?

• A major problem faced in disaster mitigation is a lack of awareness or the ignoring of a risk.
• Generally, the risk involved is not clearly defined or estimated when a new infrastructure project is implemented.
• Eg: Consider a highway construction project in a mountainous region.
  • The risk faced by the project as a result of extreme weather events must be calculated, which can be done using knowledge of previous events.
  • In the Himalayan region, the inadequate observational network has resulted in a limited understanding of the risk.
  • This is mainly due to the difficulty in managing, installing, monitoring, and maintaining such infrastructure.
• Generally, the risk is underrated because planners lack sufficient and complete information about current and upcoming disasters.
• The data sets that are used are often outdated and do not directly provide sufficient information about future events.
• There are institutions within the government that are constantly monitoring and understanding the scale of the climate crisis in terms of rainfall patterns, trends, and the ways in which risk is becoming more pronounced in certain regions versus others.
• However, the manner of decision-making is inadequate as there is a lack of transformative thinking.
• It is necessary to study the implications of imposing a strict carrying capacity limit in certain regions and prohibiting further urbanization in certain areas or restricting certain construction activities.
• The preservation, conservation, and strengthening of human-ecosystem interactions is opposed by commercial requirements such as shortened travel time and easier linkage between tourist destinations.
• The decision-making should involve both private and public agencies in order to develop the best solutions.
  • This should be based on an understanding of the scale of a disaster, its potential risk, and what kinds of solutions should be modeled around it.
• The lack of political will to take such action is the major problem faced in disaster management in the country.

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FAQs

MCQs

Question: The 2004 Tsunami made people realize that mangroves can serve as a reliable safety hedge against coastal calamities. How do mangroves function as a safety hedge? (UPSC CSE 2011)

(a) The mangrove swamps separate the human settlements from the sea by a wide zone in which people neither live nor venture out.

(b) The mangroves provide both food and medicines which people are in need of after any natural disaster.’

(c) The mangrove trees are tall with dense canopies and serve as an excellent shelter during a cyclone or Tsunami.

(d) The mangrove trees do not get uprooted by storms and tides because of their extensive roots.